Walt Whitman was born on May 31, 1819. He is considered to be one of America’s most important poets. He is one of eight children of Walter Whitman and Louisa Van Velsor Whitman. Walt lived in Brooklyn and Long Island in the 1820’s-1830’s. When Walt was eleven his father took him out of school to help support the family. At the age of twelve he began to fall in love with writing. At the age of seventeen he began his career as a teacher until 1841 when he took on journalism as a full-time career. (“Walt Whitman.” pbs.org)
Walt Whitman had always loved writing and journalism, and in 1838, Walt founded his own Newspaper called The Long Islander. Whitman published his first poem in the newspaper called Our Future Lot. He worked on the newspaper for ten months, writing and delivering the newspapers himself.
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The second edition of the book of poems was released in 1856 with thirty-three poems and a letter form Ralph Emmerson to Walt about his love for the book.
In December 1862, Walt’s younger brother, George, joins the Union Army. In 1863, Whitman went to Washington D.C. to visit his brother who was injured in the war. Whitman decided to stay and help those that were injured during the war. He used any extra cash he had to buy medical supplies to help nurse the patients back to health. Whitman wrote a poem about working as a nurse during the Civil War called “The Wound Dresser”. (“Walt Whitman.”