Multi-racial Democracy and Black Democratic Vistas

Abstract

Democratic Vistas and Whitman’s later poetry and prose writings were shaped by his experiences in Washington, DC, a key site of experimentation with multi-racial democracy, and a city where local experiments had national implications. Washington was the nation’s first emancipated city and after the Civil War the combined forces of newly gained suffrage and effective political organizing led to a brief but remarkable surge in African American political power. Yet after promising initial gains, multi-racial democracy foundered, and ultimately democratic government itself was lost in the city when it became governed by appointed commissioners. Whitman’s mid-career achievements and failures can be illuminated against the backdrop of these local developments and the national scope of his work within the attorney general’s office.