Walt Whitman (1819-1892) From Leaves of Grass Part 8: Song of the Broad-Axe Song of the Broad-Axe first appeared in Leaves of Grass in the 1856 edition. In "Politics and Poetry: Leaves of Grass and the Social Crisis of the 1850’s," David S. Reynolds writes that the 1850's were a period of rampant political corruption both in New York and nationally. He writes that the 1852 New York board of Alderman was referred to as "the forty thieves." [1] In addition, he describes the incompetence of the Presidents who preceded Lincoln in regard to their handling of slavery compromises. [2] He also writes that it was a time when class differences expanded quickly with the rise of market capitalism. [3] Reynolds says that self reliance as expressed by Ralph Waldo Emerson inspired reformers of the time. [4] In Song of the Broad-Axe Whitman gives voice to this sentiment: "Where outside authority enters always after the precedence of inside authority; Where the citizen is always the head and ideal—and President, Mayor, Governor, and what not, are agents for pay; Where children are taught to be laws to themselves, and to depend on themselves; Where equanimity is illustrated in affairs" Three of Walt Whitman's brothers were names after presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson. Justin Kaplan writes that the elder Whitman raised his children as radical Democrats. [4] He writes In Walt Whitman: A Life, that the Whitmans thought highly of the feminist, free-thinker ...