USA HISTORY

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR(1861 1865)

GETTYSBURG ADDRESS

[SOURCES]
“O Captain! My Captain!” was written just after the end of the Civil War. The speaker’s description of a captain who dies most likely refers to

(A) Walt Whitman

(B) ** Abraham Lincoln

(C) Jefferson Davis

(D) Robert E. Lee

EXPLANATIONS BELOW

Concept note-1: -Abraham Lincoln is being compared to the captain. Yes, because a captain is head of the ship and Lincoln was the president head of the US.

Concept note-2: -“O Captain! My Captain!” is an elegy written by Walt Whitman in 1865 to commemorate the death of President Abraham Lincoln. It was first published in Sequel to Drum-Taps (1865), a collection of Whitman’s poems inspired by the events of the American Civil War.

Concept note-3: -Walt Whitman wrote “O Captain, My Captain!” as a dedication to Abraham Lincoln. Although it seems like it is just a poem about a sea captain who dies at the end of a victorious voyage, it really refers to Lincoln ‘s untimely death shortly after his victory in the Civil War.

Concept note-4: -In the poem “O Captain! My Captain!” by Walter Whitman, Abraham Lincoln is referred to as the captain because he was a President who steered the country through turbulent times. A captain of a ship leads the ship, and a president of a country leads the country.

Concept note-5: -Walt Whitman wrote “Oh Captain! My Captain!” to honor Abraham Lincoln after the President was assassinated in 1865.