Containing multitudes: Walt Whitman's three personas in the new market economy

Between 1840 and 1855, Walt Whitman envisioned a cohesive labor reform program that sought to authentically unite the United States through a celebration of the nation as it was, rather than as it should be. The editorialist and poet did so by introducing his readers to their essential equality without overthrowing the established economic order and social hierarchy. Rather than elevating status to a spiritual plane, Whitman envisioned labor and capital as equal in their place. In this seeming contradiction, he united the ideologies of radical labor reformers (who supported economic leveling) and conservative reformers (who accepted an "organic" hierarchy) in order to maintain the artisan republicanism of his father's generation. To this end, he sought to convince his readers that affectation and hubris, rather than economic forces, were the origin of injustice.; Whitman made this argument in print by taking on three distinct personas: the Schoolmaster, the Editor, and the Bard. In these roles he constructed public voices that sought to "teach" Americans about their inherent equality. Whitman identified three separate causes of his readers' ignorance. As the Schoolmaster, he cited the prevalence of "fashion" as the cause of confusion. As the Editor, he attacked public sectarianism, pretensions toward European "high" culture and, later, slavery as the root of citizen ignorance. Finally, as the Bard, Whitman redefined the labor theory of value as a means to equality without leveling. In this final persona, he presented a novel melding of free-soil and abolitionist arguments prevalent in the decade preceding the Civil War. Though Whitman's personas and arguments changed over time, his central thesis remained the same: America is perfect as it is, one need only recognize its perfection. Thereafter, confusion (be it fashion, sectarianism, or slavery) fell away. In this way, Walt Whitman sought to enlighten his readers as to their equality within the status quo and educate the republic as to its own true nature.