Blog # 7

In John Greenleaf Whittier's poem "The Hunters of Men", it is obvious he is an abolitionist. He paints a very vivid picture that really makes the white man see how bad this treatment to the blacks is. He says "All mounting the saddle, all grasping the rein; right merrily hunting the black man, whose sin is the curl of his hair and the hue of his skin!" (Whittier) This is very sad because it shows the reader that the only thing these men are doing wrong is that they were born the wrong color. This is obviously something that cannot be helped. These men have done nothing wrong, they're just being scrutinized for the color of their skin and hair. Another convicting point the author makes is " Oh, goodly and grand is our hunting to see, In this land of the brave and this home of the free." (Whittier) This is very sad because it shows we are not living by the motto built around our country. If America was a home of the free, then everyone would be free, including the blacks. By reading this poem, the audience would want to do something. It really shows them how innocent these men and women were. They had done nothing wrong. They had just as much of a right to be free as any white man.