# Early Years in Florida, Missouri explained — The Autobiography of Mark Twain

> Chapter companion for The Autobiography of Mark Twain by Mark Twain.

## What happens

Mark Twain describes his birthplace, the small village of Florida, Missouri, detailing its modest infrastructure, the local economy, and the cost of goods and labor in the 1830s compared to his present-day life in Hartford, Connecticut. He also recounts his father's ownership and hiring of enslaved people, providing specific wages and clothing allowances.

## Themes in this chapter

### Memory and Autobiography

Twain recalls his earliest childhood memories of Florida, Missouri, reconstructing the village's layout, economy, and social practices.

### Slavery and Race

Twain details his father's ownership and hiring of enslaved people, including specific wages and clothing allowances.

### Social Class and Inequality

The chapter contrasts the low cost of goods and labor in 1830s Missouri with the higher costs in 1870s Hartford, highlighting economic changes and class differences.

## Character check-ins

### Mark Twain

Narrator and subject of the chapter, born in Florida, Missouri in 1835.

### Jane Lampton Clemens

Mentioned indirectly as part of the family; her brother John A. Quarles is referenced.

### Orion Clemens

Mentioned as part of the Clemens family, though not directly named in this excerpt.

## Key lines

> I was born the 30th of November, 1835, in the almost invisible village of Florida, Monroe County, Missouri.

Twain was born on November 30, 1835, in the tiny village of Florida, Missouri.

_Establishes the date and place of his birth._

> At first my father owned slaves, but by and by he sold them and hired others by the year from the farmers.

Twain's father initially owned slaves but later sold them and instead rented enslaved laborers annually from local farmers.

_Describes the shift from slave ownership to hiring enslaved people._

> Everything was cheap: apples, peaches, sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes, and corn, ten cents a bushel; chickens, ten cents apiece; butter, six cents a pound; eggs, three cents a dozen; coffee and sugar, five cents a pound; whisky, ten cents a gallon.

In 1830s Missouri, basic food items and goods were extremely inexpensive compared to later prices in Hartford.

_Highlights the low cost of living in frontier Missouri._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_autobiography_of_mark_twain_se/chapters/volume-i-early-years-in-florida-missouri
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_autobiography_of_mark_twain_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_autobiography_of_mark_twain_se/chapters