Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T22:47:25.139Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 20 - Race and Ethnicity

Native Americans

from Part III - Historical and Cultural Contexts

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 December 2019

By
Kerry Driscoll
Edited by
John Bird
John Bird
Affiliation:
Winthrop University
Get access

Summary

Mark Twain’s attitudes toward Native Americans is complex and more troubled than his attitudes toward other racial and ethnic groups. His exposure to native tribes in Nevada and California during his days in the West shattered his romantic illusions about Indian life gained from his childhood reading of James Fenimore Cooper and other writers, and his writing in the time is virulently racist against Native Americans. His views may have softened somewhat later in his life, and there is evidence that he supported pro-Indian charities and efforts. But overall, his attitudes mirror those of white Americans at the time, which included wars against the Indians and removal to reservations.

Keywords

Mark TwainSamuel ClemensraceethnicityNative AmericansIndiansprejudice
Type
Chapter
Information
Mark Twain in Context , pp. 203 - 212
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Works Cited

Collins, Lewis. History of Kentucky. Covington: Collins, 1982.Google Scholar
Trabue, Daniel. Westward into Kentucky: The Narrative of Daniel Trabue. Ed. Raymond, Chester. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1981.Google Scholar
Twain, Mark. Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer among the Indians and Other Unfinished Stories. Ed. Armon, Dahlia et al. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989.Google Scholar
Twain, Mark. “In Defense of Harriet Shelley.” 1888. MS. Mark Twain Papers. Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Twain, Mark. Letter to Grover Cleveland. Feb. 23, 1886. MS. Mark Twain Papers. Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Varble, Rachel M. Jane Clemens: The Story of Mark Twain’s Mother. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1964.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×