Whitman and the Wilmot Proviso

Whitman supported the Wilmot Proviso, which stipulated that slavery would not be allowed only in any new states admitted to the Union (source).  And yet we can tell from his kind and subversive act of housing a slave in "Song of Myself" that Whitman was not cruel or harboring race-based hatred.  Perhaps Whitman was so attached to the idea of the solidarity of the Union as it was in his time that he felt threatened by the "extremist" stance of abolitionists (source).  Fear of change is a powerful thing.

It's easy for us to look back and assess the morality of political perspectives now that we know their outcomes, but it is important to remember how complex it was for people of that time to know what was right.  Whitman was a progressive thinker, no doubt, and yet he was still subject to the influence of his surroundings.  In fact, if we think about how easily the beauty of nature soaked into his being, it makes sense that he would be easily impacted by other elements around him as well.  It's tough to be a sensitive soul!  At least he struggled with these issues rather than shying away from them.