I Sing The Body Electric

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Welcome to Celebrate Whitman.  My name is George Bartley, and this episode  392 I Sing The Body Electric

In the previous episode, Celebrate Whitman dealt with the artist’s three months in New Orleans.  I had planned to talk with Mr. Whitman about his perceptions of the slave markets there, but it turned our to be more than enough for an episode all itself.  So in this episode, I would like to talk with the ghost of Mr. Whitman about some of the writer’s complex feelings about slavery.

But first - a little bit about slavery in New Orleans in the state of Louisiana. 

Now slavery was introduced in Louisiana by French colonists in 1706. And Louisiana was to experience slavery under several colonial powers, including the French, Spanish, and briefly by the French again, before becoming part of the United States in 1803.

Greetings, Mr. Bartley.

Hello, Mr. Whitman.

In this episode, I want to talk about some of your observations regarding slavery in Louisiana.

Ah yes, Mr. Bartley - I had never experienced so much slavery around me until my three months in Louisiana.  And I must admit that the proliferation of slavery all around me had a profound impact on my views and future writings about slavery. I witnessed slave auctions firsthand and kept an advertisement for one as a "reminder" and "warning" for decades after.  The large presence of enslaved people and the realities of slavery focused my attention on the themes of slavery and freedom in a way that my previous environment in New York had not.

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