Mark Twain

     Mark Twain (a.k.a Samuel Clemens) was a famous author. He wrote 28 books. Some of which were "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer", and "Life in Mississippi". He was born as Samuel Clemons, from Jane and John Clemens, but became famous and known with the name Mark Twain. At 17, he became a river pilot which is where the name Mark Twain originated (Mark Twain means "safe to navigate).

      Mark Twain and Charles Warner  coauthored a novel about American politics and society called "The Gilded Age". Because of the novel, the era became known as the Gilded Age. Calling it this was like sounding off an alarm. Gilded means gold on the outside but cheap on the inside. A Gilded Age would appear clean and perfect, but if you are to look deeper, you would find corruption, poverty, crime, and great disparities in wealth between the rich and the poor, which was what Twain and Warner sought to uncover in America.

       This era was a time of great cultural activity. Industrialism and urbanization changed and altered the way Americans looked at themselves and their society. The changes gave rise to new values,new forms of entertainment, new art, new inventions, and a whole new lifestyle and era.

Sources ~ the book.

                 Google images.