Editing Mark Twain (section)

====Civil rights====
Twain was an adamant supporter of the [[Abolitionism in the United States|abolition of slavery]] and the [[emancipation]] of slaves, even going so far as to say, "[[Abraham Lincoln|Lincoln]]'s [[Emancipation Proclamation|Proclamation]]&nbsp;... not only set the black slaves free, but set the white man free also".<ref>Philip S. Foner, ''Mark Twain: Social Critic'' (New York: International Publishers, 1958), p. 200</ref> He argued that non-whites did not receive justice in the United States, once saying, "I have seen Chinamen abused and maltreated in all the mean, cowardly ways possible to the invention of a degraded nature&nbsp;... but I never saw a Chinaman righted in a court of justice for wrongs thus done to him".<ref>Maxwell Geismar, ed., ''Mark Twain and the Three Rs: Race, Religion, Revolution and Related Matters'' (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1973), p. 98</ref> Twain paid for at least one black person to attend [[Yale Law School]] and for another black person to attend a southern university to become a minister.<ref>Paine, A. B., Mark Twain: A Biography, Harper, 1912 p. 701</ref>

Twain was also a supporter of [[History of women's suffrage in the United States|women's suffrage]], as evidenced by his "[[Votes for Women (speech)|Votes for Women]]" speech, given in 1901.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Mark Twain's Speeches|url=https://archive.org/details/marktwainsspeec00twaigoog|last=Twain|first=Mark|publisher=Harper & Bros.|year=1910|location=New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/marktwainsspeec00twaigoog/page/n117 101]–103}}</ref>

[[Helen Keller]] benefited from Twain's support as she pursued her college education and publishing despite her disabilities and financial limitations. The two were friends for roughly 16 years.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.perkins.org/stories/seven-fascinating-facts-you-probably-didnt-know-about-helen-keller|title=Seven fascinating facts you probably didn't know about Helen Keller|website=Perkins School for the Blind|access-date=March 20, 2019|archive-date=June 11, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190611010555/https://www.perkins.org/stories/seven-fascinating-facts-you-probably-didnt-know-about-helen-keller|url-status=live}}</ref>

Through Twain's efforts, the Connecticut legislature voted a pension for [[Prudence Crandall]], since 1995 Connecticut's official heroine, for her efforts towards the education of young African-American women in Connecticut. Twain also offered to purchase for her use her former house in Canterbury, home of the [[Canterbury Female Boarding School]], but she declined.<ref>{{cite news
|title=Prudence Crandall Champion of Negro Education |first1=Miriam R. |last1=Small |first2=Edwin W. |last2=Small |magazine=[[New England Quarterly]] |volume=17 |number=4 |date=December 1944 |pages=506–529}}</ref>{{rp|528}}

At 62, Twain wrote in his travelogue ''Following the Equator'' (1897) that in colonized lands all over the world, "savages" have always been wronged by "[[White people|whites]]" in the most merciless ways, such as "robbery, humiliation, and slow, slow murder, through poverty and the white man's whiskey"; his conclusion is that "there are many humorous things in this world; among them the white man's notion that he is less savage than the other savages".<ref>Twain, Mark. 2008. ''Following the Equator''. pp. 94–98</ref> Describing his travels, Twain wrote, "So far as I am able to judge nothing has been left undone, either by man or Nature, to make India the most extraordinary country that the sun visits on his rounds. Where every prospect pleases, and only man is vile."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.amritt.com/india-business-guide/mark-twain-india/ |publisher=Amritt |title=Mark Twain in India |date=2009 |access-date=May 8, 2014 |archive-date=May 9, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140509002821/http://www.amritt.com/india-business-guide/mark-twain-india/ |url-status=live }}</ref>