Walter Walt Whitman Transcendentalism

Throughout America’s history, the United States has experienced many trials in tribulations regarding Economic, Social, and Moral issues. Even so, the bloodiest war in American history remains to be the Civil War, which took place fought 1861 to 1865. The war itself was ignited by issues between the Union and the Southern states that caused a divided between the regions of the north and south. The war itself illuminated the dark side of the institution within the American society, and as a result, the era was marked by a turn in the principles of the American people as a transition from purely transcendentalism views were combined with a new approach of thinking that relied on realism. Those that wielded the power of language were able to express the realities of society through their creative works that illuminated both the positive and negative aspects that thrived within …show more content…
A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. In his works, he included Emersonian ideas. However, his philosophy was merely various that added realistic viewpoints and engagement with society and its people. Unlike Emerson, Whitman’s writing emphasizes the importance of every single individual within American society, and Whitman thought it was his duty to use his works to be the voice of the American people. In order to truly embody the lives of the American people in his works, Whitman wrote poems that highlighted the suffering that was caused by the Civil War. In his poem Reconciliation he states “For my enemy is dead, a man divine as myself is dead, I look where he lies white-face and still in coffin I draw near” (1401). Whitman’s works emphasized his ability to see the divine connection he shared with every man, woman, and child. He saw himself in the people who suffered displaying his empathy for the American