The Influence of Civil War on Whitman’s Democratic Ideas

张璐瑶

一、Introduction

Walt Whitman is regarded as one of the greatest American democratic poets. Because of the poor family， he had to make his own living at a very young age and engaged in variety of occupations. There is no doubt that it is the hard experience that laid a solid foundation for his poetic creation. He wasnt infatuated with the English poetry， but paid his attention to highlighting the character of the American nation. Starting from his poems， American poetry entered into a new era， which was independent from the English poetry. He eulogized himself and democracy， praised the hardworking people and sang for the prosperous country. However， people at that time didnt like his poems， neither his style nor his subject matter， and some newspaper even publicly criticized his poems. The pressure of public opinions from the press， the discouragement and interference from publishers， and the disregard from general readers， constituted the external factors of Whitmans creation before the Civil War. Whats more， the outbreak of the Civil War gave an important internal impact on his poetrys creation. It is the Civil War that led Whitman to a spiritual crisis. The Civil War purified Whitmans abstract “self”， and led him into the reality of blood. So in other words， according to the Civil War， we can put Whitman's creation into three periods.

二、Before the Civil War

Whitman's democratic ideas had two main sources. When he was young， he listened to his regular guest Thomas Paine's conversation for many times. Thomas Paine's radical democratic tendencies and utopian socialism impressed Whitman a lot. Therefore， Whitman aspired to be a democracy fighter like Thomas Paine since his childhood. As he reached maturity， with the rise of Transcendentalism， Whitman was fascinated by Emersons theory， and he loved the nature and the ordinary working people much more. All of these strengthened his stand of democratic ideas.

三、During the Civil War

As we all know. The American Civil War （1861-1865） is of epoch-making in American history. With the development of economy， the contradiction between the Northern Capitalist and the Southern Reactionary Slave Owners became irreconcilable. The focus of the conflict was on slavery. In 1861， the two sides refused to compromise and they were at an impasse. Eventually， the two sides appealed to arms and the war burst out. It is the famous American Civil War. After several years of war， in 1865， under the leadership of Abraham Lincoln， the democratic North won the victory of the war. Whitman had always been opposed to the slavery， and he was against the rebellion of splitting the Federal Union from the southern slave owners. He firmly supported the federal army to maintain the unity and democracy. During the Civil War， Whitman went to Washington to attend his injured brother， and meanwhile， he worked as a volunteer nurse to engage in the war and assisted the wounded soldiers. This experience influenced the poet deeply. His attention changed from the theory of self to the support for the democracy war， and his democratic ideas further strengthened.

四、After the Civil War

When the Union bandaged up its wounds， trying to step out of the war， the leader of the North army， Abraham Lincoln， was assassinated by one supporter of the South. At that time， President Lincoln was considered as the democracy and freedom in the eyes of many American people. Whitman was sad about this. But his democratic ideas didnt cease to advance. On the one hand， he hoped that Lincoln could live forever in peoples mind， along with his democratic ideas. On the other hand， after the Civil War， he was disappointed about the egoism and the war， and he was eager for the whole worlds peace and democracy. So his democratic ideas were further developed.

五、Conclusion

All in all， Whitman was the truly democratic guardian. He not only struggled for the fulfillment of the democracy for a lifetime， but also hoped the entire world could be peaceful and democratic. Therefore， his poems contained the democratic ideas. He is the pride of the history of the world literature， and he is the pride of the United States. Only the democratic ideas can create such a great Whitman， and only that special time to achieve his today！