John Greenleaf Whittier: Abolitionist, Quaker and Poet “One brave deed makes no hero.” This is a strong quote from America’s early poet John Greenleaf Whittier. It is safe to say Whittier lived by these worlds considering the fact his writings were highly influenced by current world events. He was also highly involved in events such as slavery, the Abolitionist movement, and wars that happened during his lifetime. Aside from those events he was also highly influenced by a Scottish poet by the name of Robert Burns. Whittier was born to John and Abigail (Hussey) on December 17, 1807 in their “rural homestead” in Haverhill, Massachusetts. Fun fact; it is said that his middle name is believed to translate to “feuillevert” after his Huguenot forbears. He grew up on a farm, quite common for people during this time period. He lived with his parents, his brother and his two sisters. Their farm didn’t bring in very much revenue but they had a lot of visitors and people that worked for his parents. This left them with just enough money to get by. Whittier wasn’t able to help out much neither; he just wasn’t one for hard labor and getting his hands dirty. His …show more content…
In result, his health worsened and angry mob violence caused him to have another physical breakdown. Whittier knew he wasn’t going to get much better from there so he went back home to Amesbury and stayed there for the rest of his life. He ended his active participation in the abolitionist movement by doing so. He continued to believe the best way to gain abolitionist support was to broaden the Liberty Party’s political appeal. Whittier continued to encourage the addition of other issues to their platform. Eventually, he participated in the evolution of the Liberty Party into the “Free Soil Party,” and some say his greatest political feat convincing Charles Sumner to run on the Free-Soil ticket for the U.S. Senate in 1850.