He described his impressions in a travelogue , '' American Notes for General Circulation '' . In '' Notes , '' Dickens includes a powerful condemnation of slavery which he had attacked as early as '' The Pickwick Papers '' , correlating the emancipation of the poor in England with the abolition of slavery abroad citing newspaper accounts of runaway slaves disfigured by their masters . In spite of the abolitionist sentiments gleaned from his trip to America , some modern commentators have pointed out inconsistencies in Dickens 's views on racial inequality , for instance , he has been criticized for his subsequent acquiescence in Governor Eyre 's harsh crackdown during the 1860s Morant Bay rebellion in Jamaica and his failure to join other British progressives in condemning it . From Richmond , Virginia , Dickens returned to Washington , D.C. , and started a trek westward to St. Louis , Missouri . While there , he expressed a desire to see an American prairie before returning east . A group of 13 men then set out with Dickens to visit Looking Glass Prairie , a trip 30 miles into Illinois
Morant Bay rebellion
Morant Bay rebellion
Charles Dickens