The Wilmot Proviso basically states that all territory acquired from Mexico would ban slavery in those states. The Proviso did not pass senate, however.
After reading Song of Myself, especially the section about the runaway slave I believe that Whitman would have been for the Wilmot Proviso. Whitman didn't seem like a man of many prejudices and I believe that his runaway slave story is quite true. He saw a human in need of help, and he answered to that need with compassion. But would Whitman have cared enough about the Proviso to do anything about it or to help get it passed? He is obviously not a man who cares for slavery, but if it's not his own direct issue would he do anything about it?
Good!
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