Wavy Whitman

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Initial Observations

• 81 Cleremount CW
• 96 Court of
• Charles Hernie
• 10:00 a.m
• Georgia
• Brochure: Two characters as of a dialogue between A. Lincoln and Whitman
• As in a dream
• Lessons for a president elect
• Jew the Christ...there is love
• Why now I shall know whether there is anything in your liberty...I can see how much you can stand
• Does the Queen of England represent 1000 years?... and the queen of Spain 1000 years?... and you?
• Welcome the story-welcome the trial-let the waves
• Why now I shall see what the old ship is made out of 
• Ship of liberty...blow mad winds!
• See what stuff you are made of...ship of liberty
• Welcome this menace- I welcome them with joy
• Ship of the world- Ship of Hammond- Ship of the ages
• Ship that connects the world...Ship of the hope of the world...Ship of promise
• Drawing of older man looking out into the future
• Another image of the same old man but with his hand extended as if he's welcoming the "menace" or any other person considering Whitman believes in universal brotherhood
• Drawing of what appears to be Abraham Lincoln with the iconic large top hat on 

Whitman's notebook revealed a lot about how highly he though of the United States considering he called the U.S the "ship of the hope of the world". In addition, Whitman has high expectations for President Lincoln as he is hoping that he will be able to unify the world and create this sense of universal brotherhood by accepting people from all walks of life even those who we consider to be a "menace". Also, I find it interesting how Whitman compared the U.S to a ship, considering ships are always moving forward, despite any turbulence or rough winds. I feel as though Whitman truly wants the U.S to continue to push forward and evolve so that we can set an example for countries all over the world. The overall tone of this text seemed to be extremely optimistic as Whitman seemed to think so highly of America, even calling it the "ship of promise". By reading this notebook, I was able to gain insight on Whitman's overall bubbly and upbeat attitude, as well as his overwhelming desires to see America embrace equality.

Post Observations

• He believed religion separated people instead of unifying therefore he wanted something that would connect people together
• He was against slavery, but didn't like the abolitionist movement as he felt it was dangerous for the union
• He wanted to create another religion that would include all religions so that no one would be excluded 
• Used the word Liberty instead of Libertad, suggests that freedom is beyond the borders of the U.S 
• The demise of the Union is part of a historical cycle
• Whitman feels as though the challenges that Lincoln will face are going to be much harder than  before
• "Black clouds of death"....the price that Whitman believes the nation will soon have to pay
• The images are unlikely to have been drawn by Whitman
• The images were portraits of Whitman...not Lincoln
• Image of a harp, a symbol of poetry
• The last line being, "the last war": people were associating the civil war with a second American Revolution

After looking at the actual words of Whitman, the tone was a lot different than I initially thought. While Whitman did want the U.S to persevere and reach equality, he was a lot more concerned and worried with the outcome than I initially thought. He knew that Lincoln's job was going to be incredibly hard and doubted Lincoln's abilities, to an extent, considering he states that the U.S will reach the "black clouds of death" if a war were to ensue. I also find it interesting to see just how much of a liberal Whitman was. The fact that he wanted a religion to include all religions so that no one would feel left out is odd yet admirable. This notebook truly revealed just how much Whitman cared for his country, yet how he had little hope for the U.S following the Civil War considering he called it "The Last War".

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