Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) was born into a wealthy social, economic, and intellectual family. Whitman had no such advantage. Whitman was self-taught, having grown up reading Shakespeare, the Bible, Homer, and Dante. He became a schoolteacher at age 21 to support himself while he pursued a career as a writer. Like many young men of his time, Whitman dreamed of becoming a poet. However, unlike many others, he actually went to France and spent several years learning about poetry from the masters there. When he returned home, he started a weekly newspaper that published only his own work. This paper became one of the most popular in the country. Whitman was a radical reformer who wanted to change what it meant to be American. He protested slavery, war, and other forms of violence, and he promoted democracy, equality, and freedom for all people. Emerson did write on political issues, but he also believed that the individual should follow their own path, which is why he rejected being labeled as either conservative or liberal. He felt that people needed to find their own way, which could only come through personal experience and reflection. Although they were both opposed to slavery, only Whitman dared to publish poems on the subject.