Campaign for Governor

Author: Mark Twain (USA)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-01-01
Features: This book depicts a typical phenomenon of the American "freedom" campaign. Just to win the election, all kinds of dirty means were employed: slander, fraud, and fabrication. In this novel, Mark Twain's humorous art is further demonstrated through its sharp satire. To better understand the novel, it's helpful to first learn about its historical context. The novel was published five years after the end of the American Civil War. In 1865, as soon as the war ended, President Johnson, who succeeded the assassinated Lincoln, pardoned some of the rebellious slave owners. He absurdly proposed accepting the Southern rebellious states back into the Union under the principle of "equality." Meanwhile, Northern speculators, Southern slave owners, and the notorious Ku Klux Klan ran rampant. Under the pressure of the struggle of the American people, the U.S. Congress passed the "Reconstruction of the South" act and subsequently issued the Civil Rights Act for African Americans and the Constitution amendments. However, what was written on paper was one thing, and what was actually implemented was another. This book was born out of this very context.