Mark Twain, Roughing It

Max Lester Loges (Lamar University)
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Roughing It,

Mark Twain’s second major work, covers a period of his life stretching from the summer of 1861 until his return to the East in December of 1866. The journey west was brought about by the election of Abraham Lincoln and the beginning of the Civil War. With the opening of the hostilities, the Mississippi was closed to commercial navigation and Sam Clemens lost his $3000 a year job piloting steamboats on the river. Lincoln’s election, however, brought political patronage to Sam’s older brother Orion, who had worked in Lincoln’s campaign. He was appointed secretary to Nevada’s territorial governor. Sam, who had recently engaged in an unpleasant three-week campaign in the Confederate Army, joined his brother hoping to get away from the war and to seek political patronage…

3003 words

Citation: Loges, Max Lester. "Roughing It". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 28 December 2010 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=2259, accessed 19 March 2024.]

2259 Roughing It 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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