For You O Democracy

The year “For You O Democracy” appeared in print in a re-issue of Leaves of Grass (1860) was a pivotal year for both Whitman and the United States. This year was the precursor to the Civil War, which would erupt officially in 1861. However, in 1860, South Carolina seceded from the Union, a political motion that would spark even more state secessions that began in early 1861. Abraham Lincoln was elected as President of the United States in 1860. Lincoln would profoundly influence Walt Whitman, who, later in his career, would eventually write and publish poems like “O Captain! My Captain!” and “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom” in Lincoln’s honor. An event that did not have as much impact on Whitman’s career was the establishment and beginning of the Pony Express, an American express mail service which utilized the relays of horse-mounted riders and operated between Missouri and California.

In other parts of the world, 1860 held many significant political and social events. In correlation to the ever-growing movement against slavery in the United States, in the Netherland Indies, slavery ended. In the United States, the Democratic convention in Charleston, South Carolina would remain divided over slavery. While Walt Whitman did not directly criticize the institution of slavery, he did oppose the extension of slavery. Whitman also opposed abolitionism, yet he viewed slavery as an opposition to the endeavor of true American democracy. Whitman’s sympathies about slaves came from his sympathies for the common American worker. Whitman also advocated that those states and territories in which slavery was abolished or outlawed should be allowed to join or remain in the Union. Whitman’s beliefs in human rights and seeking resolution over conflict are in full display in “For You O Democracy,” most notably in sections where he underscores togetherness and welcomes “plant[ing] companionship” (Line 6) everywhere in America.

Between the years of 1861 and 1865, the American Civil War would become all too personal for Walt Whitman. The war would influence much of his poetry, and he would serve as a volunteer army nurse. Whitman’s brother, George, would be wounded at the Battle of Fredericksburg—an incident that influenced Whitman’s decision to volunteer. In his role as a volunteer nurse, Whitman talked with soldiers, wrote their letters for them, and nursed their wounds. Whitman wrote articles and poems about the war, the experience of which inspired Drum-Taps, which eventually became absorbed into later editions of Leaves of Grass. In 1865, during a visit to his family in Brooklyn, Whitman learned of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, another event that would greatly influence his post-Civil War poetry.