Francis Wright, an immigrant from Scotland, was a
progressive thinker who spoke powerfully on the rights of women, abolishing
capital punishment and more. She was well received in New York and found it to
be a haven for her way of thinking.
Whitman was
entranced by Francis Wright’s oratory style. She was an amazing speaker and
Whitman recognized how the performance of one’s ideas could be just as
important as the idea itself or at lest a necessary part for the execution of
the idea. Not only was Whitman a fan of her style, but also of her ideas.
Wright wanted to preserve the union just as Whitman did. They both seemed to
understand that change was going to come in terms of slavery, so rather than
create a stark division she advocated a gradual one. She established the
Nashoba community, which was her utopian idea of how to abolish slavery. Her
idea promoted the white southerners as teachers of the black ex slaves,
teaching them about freedom (…).
Whitman believed that she was always working to help better
the community with ideas that aligned more with a progressive agenda. Just as
Whitman transgressed the boundaries between high brow poetry/poets with (certain
editions specifically) leaves of grass, Wright transgressed the socially
acceptable topics for a young woman. She was also involved in Robert Dale Owen’s
socialist settlement in Indiana where she spoke strongly against organized
religion and advocating a greater gap between church and state.
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