Wilmot Proviso

The Wilmot Proviso would have ended current slavery as well as any possible slavery in the future in all gained territory during the Mexican-American war. This seems to be a hopeful yet disillusioned standpoint to hold for the current state of the country was not unified when it came to the opinions of slavery. Although, this mind set does not seem to be unpopular of the times for Whitman proves it ten folds in his poem Song of Myself. He seeks unification throughout America, striving to find commonality in an "American" way of life that the North and South were battling to define themselves. If anything, the grounds of unification came from the acceptance that the South would carry on with slavery while the North did not. 

Although, what could have been successful for both the Wilmot Proviso and Whitman was their acceptance of the past and present and attempt to focus on changing the future American frame of mind.

 "The past and present wilt...I have filled them and emptied them,

And proceed to fill my next fold of the future."

[Leaves of Grass, 43]

There was no addressment of the past actions on slavery with the Proviso, there was no provisions for the ending of present slavery, just possible future additions to America that should start out with an equal mind set. And all Whitman was trying to do was to find the equality amongst the American people; not to call out any 'sinners' but to move toward greater and grander fluidity, outward and beyond. 

Both Proviso and Whitman look to the future for commonality throughout the country; creating a linear path, or at the very least the option for one. They may have been desperate measures, but were most definitely good intentioned. 

-Tracy Gregory