- 240 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
American Notes
About this book
"This is not the republic of my imagination, " Charles Dickens noted ruefully of his 1842 visit to the United States. His American Notes forms a stinging reproof of the country's embrace of slavery, its corrupt press and woeful sanitary conditions, and its citizens' offensive manners. Written with the author's customary observational powers and incisive wit, this volume offers a fascinating glimpse of 19th-century America.
Dickens was not entirely hostile toward his hosts, and as a dedicated social reformer he took particular interest in whether American democracy constituted an advance over the class divisions of Victorian England. The author toured jails, hospitals, and courts of law, which he praised heartily. Traveling by steamship, coach, and rail, he visited New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and Washington, D. C., among other cities, and his utter astonishment at the natural grandeur of Niagara Falls marks a highlight of his travelogue. This trenchant satire of America and Americans is certain to delight both Dickens enthusiasts and history buffs.
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Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- I. Going Away
- II. The Passage Out
- III. Boston
- IV. An American Railway. Lowell and Its Factory System
- V. Worcester. The Connecticut River. Hartford. New Haven. To New York
- VI. New York
- VII. Philadelphia, and Its Solitary Prison
- VIII. Washington. The Legislature, and the President’s House
- IX. A Night Steamer on the Potomac River. Virginia Road, and a Black Driver. Richmond. Baltimore. The Harrisburg Mail, and a Glimpse of the City. A Canal Boat
- X. Some Further Account of the Canal Boat, Its Domestic Economy, and Its Passengers. Journey to Pittsburgh Across the Alleghany Mountains. Pittsburgh
- XI. From Pittsburgh to Cincinnati in a Western Steamboat. Cincinnati
- XII. From Cincinnati to Louisville in another Western Steamboat; and from Louisville to St. Louis in another. St. Louis
- XIII. A Jaunt to the Looking-glass Prairie and Back
- XIV. Return to Cincinnati. A Stage-Coach Ride from that City to Columbus, and thence to Sandusky. So, by Lake Erie, to the Falls of Niagara
- XV. In Canada; Toronto; Kingston; Montreal; Quebec; St. John’s. In the United States again; Lebanon; the Shaker Village; West Point
- XVI. The Passage Home
- XVII. Slavery
- XVIII. Concluding Remarks
- Postscript