Wilmot Proviso As It Relates to Whitman

The Wilmot Proviso, introduced in 1846 by the Democratic congressman from Pennsylvania David Wilmot, was a controversial amendment tacked onto legislation that provided President James K. Polk with two million dollars to negotiate the end of the Mexican War and to ultimately secure the present-day territories of California, Nevada, Utah and parts of New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Wyoming. The proviso, which passed the House on several occasions but never the Senate, would have barred slavery from the newly acquired territory. It sparked a rancorous debate between Northerners and Southerns, and served as a mere prelude to what would be ensuing agitation and the build up to the Civil War. 

At the time that the debate over the Wilmot Proviso was heating up in Washington, Walt Whitman was writing editorials for the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, becoming increasingly more passionate in his support of the amendment. Whitman's arguments, however, made little mention of the moral atrocity of slavery. Martin Klammer in his book Whitman, Slavery, and the Emergence of Leaves of Grass notes that, in his editorials, Whitman "parrots the various arguments of Northern congressmen" and "bases his argument on the economic opportunities of white labor, and nowhere does he mention concern for the slave." In other words, Whitman's editorials show that he favored the proviso because he favored a white working class, which wouldn't stand a chance in the new territories should free slave labor be permitted. Indeed, Whitman even opposed the hardline abolitionists of the day in his editorials, and recognized slavery as a Southern right. 

In 1848, once the Wilmot Proviso appeared to have failed for good, the conservative faction of the Democratic party moved toward the idea of “popular sovereignty,” which would allow states to decide the issue of slavery for themselves. Whitman, knowing that this could still mean slavery in the new territories, shot out an editorial that vehemently opposed the idea, reiterating his support for the proviso. As a result, he was fired from the newspaper.

Interestingly enough, losing his editorial job would turn out to be a crucial event in the soon-to-be poet's life, as he became more and more frustrated with the party, and generally speaking, being limited as an individual. Around this time, Whitman zealously read Emerson's essays, many of which express the importance of the individual over everything. Again, Klammer: “The peculiar combination of Whitman’s increasing radicalization over slavery, on one hand, and the inspirational influence of Emerson, on the other, encouraged—even compelled—Whitman to begin his poetic explorations.”  

Whitman possibly turned to poetry as a means to freely express himself, without any affiliations or restraints. And clearly, when one reads “Song of Myself,” Whitman appears to have embraced this Emersonian notion whole-heartily. The poem is perfectly unique, the project of an original, unbridled voice. The poem's free-verse form alone was a radical step away from Whitman's contemporaries and predecessors, and the same goes for its down to earth subject matter.

With regards to Whitman's views on slavery, is it possible that they had drastically changed by the time he wrote "Song of Myself?" The section where the narrator accepts a runaway slave into his home stands out in particular as perhaps a statement. He lets the slave, "sweated" and "bruis'd," stay in his home for a week where he nurturers him with a parental tenderness, making him a bath, tending to his wounds, and restoring his strength. Notably, the narrators states: "I had him sit next me at the table, my fire-lock lean'd in the corner." This shows that, by having his gun out in the open in the corner, the narrator wasn't afraid. Also, Whitman seems to be saying that he has put down his guns for good; that he was now accepting the slaves at his table not as slaves, but as human beings. Nobody with a sound mind could write "In all people I see myself" and allow slavery to continue in any shape or any form.

Cited: http://books.google.com/books?id=QPKCam_mBiQC&dq=Whitman+slavery&source=gbs_navlinks_s