Walt Whitman was born on May 31, 1819 in West Hills, New York.
He is considered to be one of Americas most influential poets.
He would be the second of his parents eight surviving children.
The family had a modest life on a decent sized farm parcel in Long Island.
As time went on the family had to sell off some of the land.
His father would struggle for the rest of his life to regain the wealth he had lost.
Walt Whitman's love of America can be partially attributed to his upbringing, with his brothers being named George Washington, Andrew Jackson, and Thomas Jefferson.
Walt Whitman was pulled out of school at age 11 in order to Pursue work after his father made some bad investments.
His father continued to spiral into alcoholism and conspiracy driven politics,
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As the Country began to question slavery more and more Whitman's opinions on it became more and more passionate. He worried what effect it would have on American Democracy.
In 1845 Whitman Self-published his first work, Leaves of Grass, for the first time.
The work caught the attention of Ralph Waldo Emerson who sent him a letter calling him "the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom" to come from an american poet.
When he rereleased the work the next year with additional works, his life was nearing a dystopia. He lived in the attic of his families home with his alcoholic brother, his mentally unstable sister, and sharing a bed with his mentally handicapped brother.
After the rereleased version of Leaves of Grass, Ralph Waldo Emerson sent some of his compatriots, Henry David Thoreau and Bronson Alcott, to talk to and meet Whitman.
They described him as "eyes gray, unimaginative, cautious yet sagacious," and "his voice deep, sharp, tender sometimes and almost melting. When talking he will recline upon the couch at length, pillowing his head upon his bended arm, and informing you naively how lazy he is, and