On Sun, 27 Apr 1997, Jim Zwick wrote:

> In his review of Hoffman's _Inventing Mark Twain_ (NY Times, April
> 27, 1997), David Reynolds writes:
>
> "The dual nature of his experience with race relations extended into
> adulthood.  He sometimes seemed highly conservative, as when he
> opposed suffrage for blacks, and elsewhere progressive, as when he
> publicly praised Frederick Douglass.... "
>
> I have never read that Twain opposed suffrage for blacks, and have
> been going through Hoffman's biography looking for that without
> success -- in fact, every discussion of his adult views on race
> I've found in the book seems to indicate the opposite.
>
> Does anyone have any idea what Reynolds is referring to there?  Did
> Twain ever oppose suffrage for blacks?
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> Jim Zwick
> [log in to unmask]
> http://www.rochester.ican.net/~fjzwick/
>
Twain did in the early 1870s at least occasionally advocate a change in
suffrage to benefit the educated and property
owners.  While he seems to have meant to reduce the influence of the
Irish, the practical consequences of any such reforms would have been to
diminish the influence of other groups who had little property and little
access to education.  See "The Curious Republic of Gondour."

                                        Gregg Camfield