Whitman and Working Class Reform
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To characterize Whitman’s politics in this period would be to place him near
the center of the reformist issues. This does not, however, constitute a program of
moderation. Between 1848 and 1850, Whitman would undergo a philosophical
transformation which would allow him to see himself both outside of and intimately
akin to all reform movements in America in the mid-nineteenth century. This
transformation would disallow Whitman from picking and choosing from the
established reformist spectrum (temperance, egalitarianism, etc.) and force him to
envision a new, moderate program that essentially accepted the economic realities
of the day and carved a moderate position that included many elements of both the
conservative and radical programs.
Transformations
The years between 1848 and 1855 were ones of dislocation and philosophical
transformation for Whitman. The nation itself was going through similar turmoil.
Democrat David Wilmot’s proviso of 1846 had reopened the slavery debate and
solidified free-soil politics in the North. This debate intensified in the aftermath of
the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), and its fire was only temporarily
dampened by the so-called Compromise of 1850. It was to be rekindled with
ferocious energy in the years following the Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854). By 1856,
the two national parties would be split along sectional lines, the Kansas territory
would be embroiled in guerilla-style civil war, and the abolitionist senator Charles
Sumner would be clubbed on the floor by a representative from South Carolina,
Preston Brooks. Whitman was caught up in the unraveling of the nation and was
fired from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle for being one of the fifteen New York delegates
who represented the Free-Soil Party in its 1848 convention. After the press for his
newly founded Brooklyn Freeman was burned by pro-slavery advocates. Whitman
moved back in with his parents and left the newspaper business altogether (1849).^^
Between the years 1849 and 1855, Whitman began to concentrate on his poetry
while continuing to approach political themes. His unpublished poems after 1850,
“Dough-faced Song,” “Blood Money,” “The House of Friends,” centered his anger
over the Compromise of 1850 and the growing national crisis. After 1852, Whitman
worked as a carpenter with his father and delved into the New York art scene.
Between 1852 and 1855, he beg an to envision a poetry that reflected his “desire to
look outside the party system for hope and restoration.”^*In pursuit of this aesthetic
ideal. Whitman envisioned a co-mingling of all elements in a particularly American
art which would seek to bind and celebrate the seemingly disparate elements of the
Republic. Upon seeing the popular singing group The Hutchinsons, Whitman
commented in his journal, “we want this sort of starting point from which to mold
something new and true in American music.”^^Whitman also admired the “higher”
arts when they were able to touch all classes. Upon seeing the Italian contralto