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Charles Dickens

Did You Know . . .

Dickens's book American Notes was highly unpopular in the United States. Not only did he denounce the prison system at Cherry Hill, but he was also outspoken against slavery, corrupt American politics, and the slanderous press. The U.S. press blasted the book in reviews.
Dickens was also a strong opponent of the death penalty. He claimed justice was not fairly applied with much depending on a person's wealth. The poor and uneducated generally received harsher treatment in the criminal justice system, including punishment. In addition, he argued that judges and juries made mistakes that could not be corrected if the accused was dead.
Dickens returned to the United States twenty-five years later in November 1867. He received a grand welcome in Boston Harbor including a shower of rockets and flares. Dickens toured sixteen eastern cities using his own writings for public readings. It was highly successful and past hard feelings over his previous trip had been forgotten.
Dickens died suddenly of a cerebral hemorrhage at home in Kent, England, in 1870. He was buried in the Poet's Corner of London's Westminster Abbey.