Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom

With the war still raging in 1864, Douglass continues to encourage the carnage. He sees the old America dying and being replaced by a better version of itself. Blight writes, “At war’s end, Douglass could almost fashion himself as one of the unusual founders of this emerging second American republic, born in a revolution even bigger than the first” (416). During this time, both his sons return safely from service. Although Rosetta’s new husband has also enlisted, this is of less concern since the wavering young man proves to be something of an annoyance to his father-in-law.

Even though the war isn’t yet over, Douglass wonders how Black Americans will be treated after a Northern victory. Reconstruction concerns him as much as it does the politicians in Washington. Douglass initially proposes giving Black men the vote but says they must find their own way in the world after that. According to Blight, “The tension between the doctrine of self-reliance and the necessity of government support for the freedmen produced a working paradox in Douglass’s thought throughout the war and postbellum period” (426).

While wrestling with the question of abolition and reconstruction, Douglass is once more frustrated by Lincoln’s cautious policies on the subject. This is an election year, and Douglass briefly toys with the idea of supporting a radical abolitionist candidate. As the war drags on, there is great fear that Washington will attempt to end it by granting the South independence.

Much to Douglass’s surprise, Lincoln invites him to a meeting at the White House. Lincoln is interested in having Douglass advise him about setting up an underground information network in the South that would convince slaves to flee north and abandon their masters. This plan closely parallels John Brown’s idea of a mass exodus years earlier. Douglass leaps at the chance to help. Once again impressed by the similarity between Lincoln’s views and his own, Douglass decides to support the president. During the Republican convention, General Sherman takes Atlanta, reviving Northern hopes of a speedy conclusion to the conflict. Lincoln is assured of the nomination and reelection.

Despite his misgivings prior to the election, Douglass rejoices at Lincoln’s reelection and even casts a vote for him in Rochester. Having cleared this hurdle, the next anticipated conflict is the battle to pass the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolishes slavery in America at a federal level. By the end of January 1865, Congress approves the amendment, and it will be ratified by the end of the year.

During most of 1865, Douglass’s speeches hinge on the necessity for Black male suffrage. He argues that without the vote, freedmen will have no way to defend themselves against new restrictive laws that might be devised by their former masters. Blight writes, “Douglass signaled what would be for him a primary argument throughout the postwar era—he demanded in the classic terms of political liberalism the franchise as the greatest of all rights” (442).

Douglass proudly attends Lincoln’s second inauguration on March 4 in Washington. He experiences delight at the content of the inaugural address. Its sermonizing tone resonates with his own heart and his own experience. At the gala afterward, Lincoln greets Douglass personally and publicly calls him his “friend.” The event marks a high point in the former enslaved person’s life.

Sadly, the president is assassinated a month later, plunging the nation into a state of despair. Douglass shares the country’s grief: “In common grief with his mostly white fellow citizens, the black orator felt a sense of belonging. The war had provided a common sense of nationhood, Lincoln’s death virtually a common sense of family” (462).