The Wilmot Proviso was introduced to the House of Representatives in the 1840s by Congressman David Wilmot and would have banned slavery in all new territories the US was hoping to acquire from Mexico as a result of the Mexican-American War. Through its travels in our legislative processes, the Proviso found supporters, but also found many politicians strongly against it. It highlighted an ethical divide in our nation at the time, and those sentiments ultimately resulted in the American Civil War.
In Whitman's "Song of Myself," he points out the differences of the people in our nation, but shows that there is an underlying humanity in everyone's story that ties us all together. Whitman's treatment of the runaway slave in his poem shows pretty clearly how he felt about slavery, and he does his best to show the struggle of the slave can be as painful as any other human suffering. Still, even though Whitman's ethics would place him on the Northern side of the war in terms of his sympathies, it seems Whitman is torn apart by the fact that his own nation is at war with itself. People from the same nation, who he might liken as brothers, were killing each other. As much as we have seen divides in our country, we have never seen it turn into a full-out war, fortunately, but this type of event is surely something Walt had on his mind while writing his song of unity and oneness...
Excellent!
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