How Did Walt Whitman Shape The American Character

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Walt Whitman Shaping the American Character History Lauren Kilroy Walt Whitman, one of the oldest known poets of democracy, who has writing that has influenced the national character, during the 1840s in places like New York. Walt Whitman is important to the american character because his works inspired patriotism in the United States. "Whitman...spoke to the intrest of the day and from a particular class perspective"(Folsmon 3). During the time of his writings he wrote things that were very taboo subjects like black people. In his writing he did not concern the colored people as dirty or anything bad he empowers them and makes them seem like they are equals to the white men that own them. This action was undertaken by the fact…show more content…
Since he was so popular it made his words have power and then as a result help shape how people thought therefore shaping the american character. The american character not only of his time but in a way of today too. This popularity gave him the freedom to write in lots of places about lots of things. "Whitman took out a copyright on the first edition of Leaves of Grass... he published the volume himself" (poets.org 1). Leaves of Grass was a book that was a collection of twelve untitled poems, it also included a preface. He released a second edition of the book also with more poems. He eventually published several more editions of the book because everyone wanted to know what he had to say, because his opinion was so respected. How this happened was that he wrote down some of his poems and then he put them in a book in New York and went to a printing press and published them himself. He wrote freelance journalism but this was his book and individually him only. People liked it and so he published more copies and you can find his work still out and being taught today in places like high school english
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