Walt Whitman And The Civil War

by Claire Wang

Walt Whitman was born in Huntington, Long Island on May 31, 1819, the second of nine children (four of whom were handicapped), to Louisa and Walter Sr., working-class parents who were barely literate. Forced by economic circumstances, his father, a house-builder by trade, moved the family to Brooklyn. Walt abandoned his formal education at an early age to contribute to the family finances. He began learning the printers trade and became self-taught, reading the works of Homer, Dante, Shakespeare, and Scott. He also thoroughly enjoyed the Bible, which was reflected in his nume...