Pudd'nhead Wilson Lesson Plan

Why do you think Twain makes the Arkansas planter’s wife and the overseer Yanks from the North? Both are as cruel and unfeeling as any plantation owner who lives down the river. What is Twain trying to say here?

While it’s true that there was no slavery in the North, institutional racism certainly existed there in the 1800s. By making the wife and overseer Yanks, Twain is trying to say that racism isn’t just a Southern issue—it’s an American issue. It’s a common myth that the North and Abraham Lincoln were always fighting to free the slaves, but that wasn’t the case, at least initially. Although he personally opposed slavery, Lincoln’s goal was to hold the nation...