Walt Whitman Quotes
Thunder on! Stride on! Democracy. Strike with vengeful stroke!
Whitman, Walt. "Rise O Days from Your Fathomless Deeps." Leaves of Grass. David McKay, 1891-92, p. 228.
This phrase was also to be used over 100 years later by Malcolm X. See {624101} and {38291}.
In 1786, many veterans of the American Revolution had still not yet been paid the promised wages for their military service by the new national government. The States however had imposed taxes on farms to fund the new state governments and pay the state’s war debts mostly to rich merchants. Many veterans could not pay the taxes and some were thrown into debtors’ prison, and others had their farms foreclosed. Led by Daniel Shays, a small group of Massachusetts men conducted a mini rebellion by closing local court houses and tried to take over the local state armory. The Governor put down the rebellion by force and the rebels were jailed. Samuel Adams, the former governor, recommended the death penalty (see {630527}), and several of the rebels were executed. Thomas Jefferson disagreed, via this famous quotation. This was one of the early crises of the new country and it was handled very poorly and unfairly.
He was the first American citizen who was assassinated by the Central Intelligence Agency by means of a drone attack. He was a major recruiter for Al Qaeda, and he preached to 3 of the 9-11 terrorists.
Walter Whitman was an American poet, essayist, and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse. His work was controversial in its time, particularly his poetry collection Leaves of Grass, which was described as obscene for its overt sensuality. Whitman's own life came under scrutiny for his presumed homosexuality.
