The Lincoln Assasination's Impact on Walt Whitman
On the night of the awful tragedy an unreal action occurred in the box at the theater. Watching was the greatest man of his time in the glory of the most stupendous success story in our history. He was the idolized chief of a nation already mighty, and a symbol to all of the grandeur of a great nation. Quick death was to come on the central figure of that company -- the central figure of the great and good men of the century. The shot heard around the country would not die in a whimper. The gloom that had traversed the streets of Washington was the same feeling of vague terror and sorrow, which had spread throughout the entire country. Colonel Burnett, assigned to the investigation of the death of Lincoln, described the mood of the nation, "I cannot adequately describe, and shall never forget. To this day, I never visit that City (Washington) without some shadow of that dark time settling over my spirit" (A Lawyer Called to Serve 2000). The people moved about the streets with bowed heads and sorrow-stricken faces. When men spoke to each other in the streets, there were tremulous tones in their voices, and a quivering of the lips, as though tears and violent expression of grief were held back only by great effort. Lincoln's death impacted Whitman because he had held Lincoln in the highest esteem similar to the soldiers, lived in the same proximity as the President, and had developed a series of works devoted directly to Lincoln.
The people held Lincoln in such high esteem with a strong love. Colonel Burnett adds "the love of the people was so strong, and so peculiarly personal and tender towards Abraham Lincoln" (A Lawyer Called to Serve 2000). This was especially...
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A fundamental difference between the New England and Southern colonies was the motives of the founders. In 1606, the Virginia Company was formed, motivated primarily by the promise ...
Eliga H. Gould, The Persistence of Empire: British Political Culture in the Age of the American Revolution (North Carolina: Omohundro Institute, 2000),
leading up to and surrounding President Abraham Lincoln’s death. The purpose of this book is to
Williams gives us insight into Lincoln’s thought process into who Lincoln really was. Williams superbly supports this with various examples and...
Within a short amount of time after the election of Abraham Lincoln to the office of presidency, the south had seceded from the Union and brought on the beginning of the American Civil War. In 1863, the third year of the war, Lincoln had given a speech of the sacred battle ground at Gettysburg, most notably called the Gettysburg Address. In it, he expressed sincerity for those who fought and died there and most of all, proclaimed his aims of war itself. Walt Whitman, a celebrated poet of the time, traveled from hospital to hospital witnessing the operations of wounded soldiers and also the horrific scenes of death and amputation. His views were very much different than those of Abraham Lincoln and though not evident, were still noticeable in his writings. Last, none other than William T. Sherman himself, a Federal Army General, disclosed letters sent between him and the Confederate General, J. B. Hood and also letters sent between him and the mayor of Atlanta, James M. Calhoun. In them, he expresses his opinions about the war which, not-so-surprisingly, is very similar to Lincoln's.
America grew into an independent government, discarding many ideals present in that of England. But was the Doctrine of Discovery ...
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. .’, concludes James Oakes’ book with the aftermath of the Civil War and Lincoln’s assassination. Oakes discussed the respect Douglass gathered for Lincoln over the years and the affect his assassination had on both himself and America as a whole. Oakes even brushed over Douglass’ relationship with Andrew Johnson, the president succeeding Lincoln. Analyzing his experience with the new president, it was safe to say that Andrew Johnson had no consideration as to what Douglass and Lincoln previously fought for. Johnson did not have the same political skills as Lincoln did, and he did not retain the same view for America that Lincoln did. It was obvious that Douglass held Lincoln at a higher standard than Andrew Johnson, stating that he was a “progressive man, a humane man, an honorable man, and at heart an anti-slavery man” (p. 269). Oakes even gave his own stance on Andrew Jackson, “It was a legacy that Andrew Johnson could ever match. When all of Lincoln’s attributes were taken into consideration - his ascent from the obscurity to greatness, his congenial temperament, his moral courage - it was easy for Douglass to imagine how much better things would be ‘had Mr. Lincoln been living today’.” (p. 262). It is hard to imagine the pre-war Douglass to have said something like that as opposed to an older, much more reserved Douglass. With the abolishment of slavery, so came much discrimination. Without
Henretta, James A., Rebecca Edwards, and Robert Self. America: A Concise History.( Boston: Bedford, St. Martin's, 2006),
Henretta, James A and David* Brody. America: A concise History . Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2010. Document.
Looking back at the life of Abraham Lincoln, if you read about him before 1858, you wouldn’t think he would be such a predominant figure in American history today. It’s not till you learn about the election in 1860 and the events following that you learn what cemented this man, who would become our nations sixteenth president, into our nation’s history. If Lincoln had not won the election, perhaps our only memory of him would be his famous “House Divided” speech from the Illinois Republican Convention in 1858, but we learn from a young as, that isn’t the case. Lincoln went on the be the President during the bloodiest war in American history. Despite having little schooling as a child he would also write his own speeches before and during his
When the first American settlement on Roanoke Island was established in 1585 it’s primary force, Sir Walter Raleigh, had no idea that this “New World” would evolve into one of the most powerful voices in the modern world. But before it developed it would have to shaped by it’s founders from the Western world. Two of the largest voices in America’s early development are John Smith, who with a group of English merchants, hoped to get rich in this new land, and William Bradford, a puritan farmer who was one of the most influential men involved with the Mayflower compact. In their two pieces they both convey America as a place to escape but fail to reach many other similar conclusions on what America was like at this time.
...ator.’ Rather than to view Lincoln as a man who sought emancipation as a primary goal, which is misleading, we should remember him as a man who rose above the prevailing prejudices of his time to cast away a morally corrupt institution
As this semester comes to a quick close I have learned about the lives of many authors, the works of many authors and the variety of impact that they had on the nation. American Literature has had many different impacts on America. The literature has shaped the lives of the American people from generation to generation. The literature has shared the lives of those long before and created traditions to be passed on from family to family. From learning of a woman who changed the idea of women in literature to reading about the life of a man who shaped the nation as president, American Literature has increased my knowledge of the nation that I call home. There were authors I had no knowledge of such as Walt Whitman, authors that widely influenced
This helped develop the central idea by pulling at heartstrings. The device Lincoln used for this main idea is pathos and sentence structure. First, he uses pathos when he says, ‘’Now we are in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.’’ This appeals to our hearts because during wars, blood is shed. Notably, he uses pathos when he states, ‘’We have come here to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.’’(Lincoln, 1) This appeals to the heart since people lost their lives; this device moves us to do what is asked. Likewise, he uses sentence structure and pathos when he says, ‘’The world will little note, nor long remember what we have to say here, but it can never forget what they did here.’’(Lincoln, 1) The commas make the sentence more slow and fitting as he continues to honor the deaths. Lincoln’s use of pathos and sentence structure pull heavily at our