Mark
Twain wrote and published Life on the
Mississippi in 1883 and The
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in 1884.
While The Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn is set in the antebellum south, Life on the Mississippi takes place similarly before the American
Civil War, but spans until after the end of the war and the decline of steam
boats on the Mississippi River. Both
books are set on the Mississippi River mainly between Missouri and New Orleans,
but Life on the Mississippi does
venture as far north as Minneapolis.
During this time, steamboats would become an important mode of transportation and then lose popularity after the Civil War and become obsolete by the twentieth century. According to the US Army Corp of Engineers' article "A History of Steamboats:"
"Steamboats began experiencing competition from railroads as early as the 1830s. At this time there were only 23 miles of tracks in all of the United States. This small amount of tracks did not provide much competition, but by 1880 there were around 93,000 miles of tracks and the trains were taking away much of the steamboats’ business. In the twentieth century, with the invention of cars, trucks, and airplanes, steamboats became obsolete, and most were retired."
Steamboats could be dangerous and were prone to attack and explosions, at Twain recounts in Life on the Mississippi. The US Army Corps "If boilers were not carefully watched and maintained, pressure could build up in the boiler and cause a spectacular and deadly explosion." But the allure of the steamboat attracted men like Twain who became men on the steamboat traveling upon the Mississippi River. The steamboat also helped westward expansion as Americans could travel farther and faster.
The two books also represent an important and turbulent time in American history. With both works being set in the Antebellum south, slavery was an important issue facing America that Mark Twain directly addressed in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn; however, his personal thoughts on slavery are noticeably absent from the nonfiction Life on the Mississippi. Though the Missouri Compromise, which created boundaries between slave and free states, was put into law before Twain's birth, the repercussions affected the world he grew up in. Tensions about slavery would exist before and after the Civil War. The War itself would change the communities along the Mississippi River, especially in the South where plantations and slavery fell and many men were killed in the war. Even as the Civil War ended, racist beliefs would exist in the South that would eventually inspire the creation of the Jim Crow laws. Such racist beliefs would have partially inspired Twain's abolitionist and forward-thinking portrayal of race relations in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
Twain was also interested in other writers of his time period which would have influenced his own writing along with the historical events of his time, which he specifically references many times throughout Life on the Mississippi. Twain was a fan of Joel Chandler Harris's Uncle Remus stories and spends a chapter of his nonfiction work describing his joy at meeting the author. Twain seemed to like the southern folklore expressed in the stories of Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox. As much as Twain enjoyed the Uncle Remus stories, he equally hated Sir Walter Scott. Throughout the entirety of Life on the Mississippi Twain abuses the romantic and absurd stories told by Scott. His audience is equally encouraged to loathe the writings of Scott. Although other writers obviously inspired Twain, he seems quite confident in his superiority to his peers as his confidence in his writings indicate.
During this time, steamboats would become an important mode of transportation and then lose popularity after the Civil War and become obsolete by the twentieth century. According to the US Army Corp of Engineers' article "A History of Steamboats:"
"Steamboats began experiencing competition from railroads as early as the 1830s. At this time there were only 23 miles of tracks in all of the United States. This small amount of tracks did not provide much competition, but by 1880 there were around 93,000 miles of tracks and the trains were taking away much of the steamboats’ business. In the twentieth century, with the invention of cars, trucks, and airplanes, steamboats became obsolete, and most were retired."
Steamboats could be dangerous and were prone to attack and explosions, at Twain recounts in Life on the Mississippi. The US Army Corps "If boilers were not carefully watched and maintained, pressure could build up in the boiler and cause a spectacular and deadly explosion." But the allure of the steamboat attracted men like Twain who became men on the steamboat traveling upon the Mississippi River. The steamboat also helped westward expansion as Americans could travel farther and faster.
The two books also represent an important and turbulent time in American history. With both works being set in the Antebellum south, slavery was an important issue facing America that Mark Twain directly addressed in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn; however, his personal thoughts on slavery are noticeably absent from the nonfiction Life on the Mississippi. Though the Missouri Compromise, which created boundaries between slave and free states, was put into law before Twain's birth, the repercussions affected the world he grew up in. Tensions about slavery would exist before and after the Civil War. The War itself would change the communities along the Mississippi River, especially in the South where plantations and slavery fell and many men were killed in the war. Even as the Civil War ended, racist beliefs would exist in the South that would eventually inspire the creation of the Jim Crow laws. Such racist beliefs would have partially inspired Twain's abolitionist and forward-thinking portrayal of race relations in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
Twain was also interested in other writers of his time period which would have influenced his own writing along with the historical events of his time, which he specifically references many times throughout Life on the Mississippi. Twain was a fan of Joel Chandler Harris's Uncle Remus stories and spends a chapter of his nonfiction work describing his joy at meeting the author. Twain seemed to like the southern folklore expressed in the stories of Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox. As much as Twain enjoyed the Uncle Remus stories, he equally hated Sir Walter Scott. Throughout the entirety of Life on the Mississippi Twain abuses the romantic and absurd stories told by Scott. His audience is equally encouraged to loathe the writings of Scott. Although other writers obviously inspired Twain, he seems quite confident in his superiority to his peers as his confidence in his writings indicate.