Why Congress is Putting Mark Twain on a Coin

[MindMover]

Source: Congress.org

Americans don’t usually put authors on their money.

Sure, Australians put the bush poet behind “The Man From Snowy River” on their $10 bill, while Japanese novelist Natsume Soseki once graced the 1,000-yen note.

So it’s unusual that Congress will vote today for $1 and $5 commemorative coins to honor Mark Twain.

But it’s not surprising that they picked Twain for the honor. As Kristin Broughton noted in Roll Call last year, Members of Congress this session quoted Twain more often than any other American author.

The reasons: Twain was prolific, intellectual yet still accessible, and wrote about all parts of the country in all kinds of styles.

“Members can pick and choose from his prolific body of work. They can ignore his pointed insults and benefit nonetheless from his timeless popularity,” Broughton noted.

Read more: http://www.congress.org/news/why-congress-is-putting-mark-twain-on-a-coin/

[KamaAina]

1. Cue "But he used the N-word!" in 3... 2... 1...

[Grassy Knoll]

6. Teabaggers and the NRA will buy All of them. n/t

[Fearless]

10. Except that he was flamingly liberal.

[cyclezealot]

19. They should put him on the 20 dollar bill instead..

Mark Twain was a member of the Anti Imperialist League.

[truebrit71]

45. I'd be cool with that...

...

[harmonicon]

31. Did he ever use it when writing as himself?

I only know the books of his I read as a child. I know that characters in his books used the word, but did he - when writing essays, articles, etc. - ever use the word?

[KamaAina]

33. That isn't the point.

The point is that the extremist wing of the PC brigade tries to scrub it, even when it's a character speaking in the vernacular of the time.

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

36. Watch the Ken Burns documentary on Twain

He was one of the most forward-thinking people of his time on matters of race.
The use of the n-word in his books is merely an accurate depiction and comdemnation of southern racism, rather than a sanitizing of the conditions of the time.

[Arctic Dave]

2. My all time favorite

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”
― Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad/Roughing It

[aquart]

5. Exactly why I favor required national service at least 600 miles from home.

[Mimosa]

8. They used to do that back in the 1950s and 1960s.

It was called 'the draft'.

For government to compel servitude is un-Constitutional.

[happyslug]

16. The Draft has NEVER been held to be unconstutitonal.

Last edited Mon Apr 16, 2012, 08:17 PM - Edit history (1)

And, unless Congress passes a new Constitutional amendment, it is impossible for any court to rule otherwise. The main reason for this is the original Constitution and the Bill of Rights was passed by a Congress that also passed the first militia act of the US, which REQUIRED every white male to serve in the Militia, no exceptions UNLESS related to running the government. Madison actually proposed an exception to the Second Amendment for religious reasons, but that was rejected by Congress on the grounds it could be used by a future Federal Government to deny people membership in the Militia for "Religious Reasons" when the "Religious Reason" was their opposed what the Government was doing, Thus the second amendment does NOT contain a religious exception AND the First Amendment had NEVER been permitted to be used to avoid military service. The same with the original militia act, no religious exception to serving in the Militia (And the religious exception did NOT exist till WWI, the Civil War Draft provided no exception for Religious objections to fighting).

The Post Civil war amendments (the 13th, 14th and 15th) was passed by many of the same congressmen that had voted for the 1863 draft. In the Debates as to those amendments it was made clear that one of the purpose of the amendments was to change the militia act to include ALL males, not just white males. In the post Civil War debates it was made clear that they was nothing in the Constitution that prevented a Draft and the post Civil War Amendments would have NO AFFECT on the ability of the Government to draft people.

The religious exception to the Draft has been solely the product of Congress starting in WWI. Thus your claim has no basis in Constitutional law.

You may think the Constitution bans a draft, but the Courts have ALWAYS said no.

[Mimosa]

24. Thanks for the info.

Compulsion of people's labours has always struck me as wrong. If government can compel a citizen to do one thing, they can compel for any purpose.

I worked in the anti-war movement.

[alcibiades_mystery]

17. Then we need a Constitutional Amendment that compels service

It need not be the draft, but military, non-military, NGO-based, whatever. We desperately need a rebirth in social thought; we desperately need to move away from the extreme of individualism, just as other societies have needed to move away from the extreme of collectivism.

[happyslug]

27. No need, see my previous post

n/t

[Lucky Luciano]

37. Brilliant quote. nt

[aquart]

3. "There is no native criminal class except Congress." - Mark Twain

[Neoma]

4. That huge Mark Twain autobiography is waiting on my bookshelf...

I wonder how much the coins will circulate.

[Throckmorton]

14. They are Commemorative Coins, for collectors, and not for circulation

Collectors pay a premium from the mint for these.

[Neoma]

20. Good grief.

Reminds me of that stupid commercial selling 9/11 coins.

[Throckmorton]

32. The mint has been producing 2 or 3 different coins, with a few gaps, since 1900 or so.

Most are silver, a few are gold.

[Mimosa]

7. People reject dollar coins no matter who is on them

I doubt Twain will make them more popular.

[PoliticAverse]

13. Perhaps they should mint a new batch, half with Ronald Reagan, half with FDR.

I wonder how that would go over.

[Lasher]

28. It wouldn't go over well with me at all.

Scholars rank Reagan #17 among all US Presidents. FDR is ranked #2. Republican propagandists have created a myth about Reagan. They went so far as to rename the airport after their Saint Ronnie that had already been named for George Washington. Gutless Congressional Democrats offered no objection to the outrage.

[SDjack]

35. I want Lincoln on the $500 bill (and yes, we need it now), FDR on the $1000 bill, and

Reagan on the penny. Then, I want the penny retired.

[happyslug]

41. To replace William McKinley??? An American Imperialist and supported of the top 1%????

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_denominations_of_United_States_currency

William McKinley was the Last President to have served in the Civil War, but he opposed a Federal income Tax, any attack on the top 1% and favor expansion of US to take over Cuba and the Philippines, not matter the cost in Civilian Lives (especially as to the Philippines). McKinley is a better fit for the GOP of today then that man who freed the Slaves (Lincoln).

The last time the US had a $500 bill printed was in 1945, they remained in circulation till anything over $100 was withdrawn in 1969.

[happyslug]

22. People will accept them, if the US does what EVERYOTHER COUNTRY HAS DONE.

When the Dollar coin was introduced in Canada, the Canadians withdrew the Dollar Bill. Thus if you wanted to use a Dollar it had to be a coin. Britain did the same with the Pound and that has been the practice in the rest of the world. Only the US minted dollar coins AND printed Dollar bills and people are creatures of habit, they will continue to use Dollar Bills until they no longer exist.

People forget till the 1960s most people purchased most items with coins. Watch an old movie, sometimes the prices of items are posted, Hamburger 15 cents, candy was a penny. A phone call was a nickel, and most people avoided it for they considered it to high (Some phone machines still took Cents in the 1960s). I remember bus fares in Allegheny County in the late 1960s, 35 cents, 25 cents for the fare and 10 cents for a transfer to catch another bus in Downtown Pittsburgh. People complained for it was TO HIGH they remember the days of 5 cent fares. The same trip today costs $3.50.

People have adopted dollars bill, for Dollar coins are NOT accepted elsewhere (And the bus company gives no change). You can NOT use a coin NOT in general use, and as long as the Dollar Bill in what people are use to, people will continue to use the Dollar bill till it is withdrawn.

With the inflation of the 1960s (tied in with the Vietnam War) people started to have to use Dollars instead of change , thus people have changed between coins and bills, when required to do so. In the 1960s and 1970s people went from using change to using bills for what they were buying price had risen so high that they HAD to use bills. Change was NOT for these higher amounts thus bills replaced change as the main means of transactions in the US.

Side note: The US coins from 1900 to the 1960 was so high in value that stores started to give out stamps to fight on the low end (i.e. at prices less then a cent). I remember Green Stamps and other stamps. Go to the grocery and you would get a bunch of them, which you saved up to buy items with. These Stamps were designed to permit competition at below the one cent level. By 1960 do to inflation these had become marginal and died out quickly with the massive inflation of the Nixon years. The passing of the saving stamps was quick, within a couple years. The reason was the cent had drop so much in value stores did NOT have to compete at the below cent level, the cent was low enough. Thus in many ways you had a Coin, the cent, replacing paper, Savings Stamps, in the US. The reason was simple, the Cent had been around a long time and people where use to using them, just like the Dollar bill replaced coins for larger purchases at the same time period. Thus a Coin, the Cent, replaced a paper "Bill" the Saving stamp, but do to the simple fact the inflation took away whatever value the Saving Stamp had. What we are seeing today is, coins are losing their luster do to the small value of today's coins, NOT to coins being unpopular. We need to adopt a permanent $1 and $5 coin and abolish the $1 and $5 paper bills (And throw in the $10 bill for good measure).

[RufusTFirefly]

9. Twain was an ardent anti-imperialist and an unapologetic puncturer of pomposity

My guess is that most members of Congress aren't literate enough to realize this.

[savannah43]

11. They're trying to appear literate.

[Simeon Salus]

12. My favorite is published in his autobiography

Here's a Twain story which most Congressmen have never read.

Unpublished in his lifetime; it concerns the First Battle of Bud Dajo, sometimes referred to as the Moro Crater Massacre. Not coincidentally, Twain's writing describes how American soldiers were so terrified by a village of 600 Muslims they called in naval artillery and assaulted the village (concealed in a volcano crater) with machine guns and howitzers. The villagers were armed with antique rifles, spears and swords. Most of the Americans' 15 killed and 32 wounded were hurt by friendly fire. Of the villagers, warriors, women and children, there were no more than six survivors.

According to Twain, commanding general Leonard Wood (that Leonard Wood, a doctor) wrote in his report: "The enemy numbered six hundred -- including women and children -- and we abolished them utterly, leaving not even a baby alive to cry for its dead mother."

And Twain doesn't hold back. Regarding President Roosevelt's letter of congratulations:

"His whole utterance is merely a convention. Not a word of what he said came out of his heart. He knew perfectly well that to pen six hundred helpless and weaponless savages in a hole like rats in a trap and massacre them in detail during a stretch of a day and a half, from a safe position on the heights above, was no brilliant feat of arms - and would not have been a brilliant feat of arms even if Christian America, represented by its salaried soldiers, had shot them down with Bibles and the Golden Rule instead of bullets. He knew perfectly well that our uniformed assassins had not upheld the honor of the American flag, but had done as they have been doing continuously for eight years in the Philippines - that is to say, they had dishonored it."

Thank you Samuel Langhorne Clemens, and I'm glad Congress is finally honoring you under your pen name, Mark Twain.

[Simeon Salus]

15. Next thing you know they'll be honoring Will Rogers

Republicans just don't get irony.

"The Republicans always looked bad three years out of four. But the year they look good is election year. A voter don't expect much. If you give him one good year he is satisfied."

"As a young boy, I didn't know a Republican from a Democrat, only in one way: If some man or bunch of men rode up to the ranch to sit or stay all night, and my Father set me to watching 'em all the time they was there -- what they did and what they carried off -- I learned they were Republicans."

Both from I Never Met a Man I Didn't Like, by Will Rogers

[ashling]

18. We've put Susan Anthony and Sacajawea on money why no Twain

Teabaggers don't read anyway

[Brother Buzz]

21. And Pomp, don't forget the Pomp.

Sacagawea’s son Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, or “Pomp,” was three months old when the Corps of Discovery left Fort Mandan. His parents accepted William Clark’s offer to educate him, and he moved into Clark’s St. Louis home when he was six. At age 18, he went to Europe for six years with Duke Paul of Wuerttemburg, an enthusiastic early tourist of the American West. Returning to the U.S., Jean Baptiste became a mountain man and fur trader, and a guide whose clients included John C. Frémont. Appointed alcalde (mayor) at Mission San Luis Rey de Francia. He later settled in Northern California and was a Forty-Eighter, hotel manager, and died in Oregon, en route to Montana, in 1866.

[July]

23. Twain on Congress:

http://www.twainquotes.com/Congress.html

[Liber-AL]

25. What a waste of time.

The time spent on considering who to put on coins is detracting from far more important issues. Is this what the do nothing Congress spends its time on, trivialities like this? I would be far more sympathetic to their numismatic urges if this Congress demonstrated more of an urgency towards fixing the mess made under Bush. Perhaps my eyes would glaze over as I remembered the great and honored Samuel Clemens if more of an effort towards jingoism emerged in Congress. I would strive to be engaged in mutual respect for Twain <IF> even a modicum of respect for president Obama could be discerned in that camp.

[tech_smythe]

26. the irony on this is off the charts

if you know ANYTHING about Twain, you;ll understand why.
i bet we could power new york city from the spinning Mr Clemens is doing in his grave.

[Throd]

29. My thoughts too. I picture him wincing at the notion.

[AtheistCrusader]

40. Well, they put Andrew Jackson on a federal reserve note and a one dollar coin...

So yeah, I think the irony is lost on Congress.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Jackson#Opposition_to_the_National_Bank

[Tabasco_Dave]

30. Did congress ever read his short story 1601

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1601_%28Mark_Twain%29

According to the diarist,

In ye heat of ye talk it befel yt one did breake wind, yielding an exceding mightie and distresfull stink, whereat all did laugh full sore.

The Queen inquires as to the source, and receives various replies. Lady Alice says,

"Good your grace, an' I had room for such a thundergust within mine ancient bowels, 'tis not in reason I coulde discharge ye same and live to thank God for yt He did choose handmaid so humble whereby to shew his power. Nay, 'tis not I yt have broughte forth this rich o'ermastering fog, this fragrant gloom, so pray you seeke ye further."

[mimi85]

34. Simple but true

My husband used to work at a golf course (the tales he tells about some of the golfers like Rickie Fowler, doctors & Tom Pernice (sp?) are priceless), so one of my fav Twain quotes is "Golf is a good walk spoiled." I DL his entire works for free on my Kindle, even though I prefer real books, but hey, couldn't resist.

Might have to pick up a coin or two just because. Although doesn't congress have anything better to do?? Another topic.

[mikeSchmuckabee]

38. When will the republican congress put Ayn Rand on the million dollar bill?

Steinbeck should be next. Put him on real money that working people use.

[trusty elf]

39. I'm waiting for this one to be minted.

[IMG][/IMG]

[MindMover]

42. OMG, now that is funny.....

[yellowcanine]

43. Hmm. I bet they don't use these MT quotes on Congress.....

Fleas can be taught nearly anything that a Congressman can.
- What Is Man?

...the smallest minds and the selfishest souls and the cowardliest hearts that God makes.
- Letter fragment, 1891

Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.
- Mark Twain, a Biography

Congressman is the trivialist distinction for a full grown man.
- Notebook #14, Nov. 1877 - July 1878

All Congresses and Parliaments have a kindly feeling for idiots, and a compassion for them, on account of personal experience and heredity.
- Mark Twain's Autobiography; also in Mark Twain in Eruption

[yellowcanine]

44. "Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself." - MT

My all time favorite MT quote on Congress.