John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892) was an influential American Quaker poet and ardent advocate of the abolition of slavery in the United States. Although he received little formal education, he was an avid reader who studied his father's six books on Quakerism until their teachings became the foundation of his ideology. He was heavily influenced by the doctrines of his religion, particularly its stress on humanitarianism, compassion, and social responsibility...