Samuel Clemens' time

Aspect I. Baffling Cultural Background

Samuel Clemens' time (1835 - 1910) was a period of transition between two centuries. Turning over the pages of American history, we find that the period was turbid, full of changes, and marked by uncertainty. A survey of the socio-cultural environments in which Clemens grew up may reveal the hidden reasons why he became so concerned with human nature and morality.

Historical Perspective

1. Clemens' time was eventful.
American fast territorial expansion resulted in wars, and the Indians the Mexicans, etc., eventually made the U.S.A. bordered on both the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. Then, internal problems of slavery began to engage the whole American aggressive impulse. Following Lincoln's presidential inauguration in 1860, the Civil War broke out. It was estimated that one in every fifty Americans died in the four bloody years. By the time the South surrendered, the combined death-toll had reached the appalling figure of 650,000, fa...