“Frederick Douglass” first appeared as part of The Atlantic’s year-long commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Douglass’s death. It is a matter of debate, however, whether the actual historic figure of Frederick Douglass is necessary to appreciate the poem’s argument. Douglass, a fugitive from slavery turned fiery orator, passionate journalist, and tireless freedom fighter, never shied away from defending the inalienable rights of every American—among them Black people, Indigenous groups, women, and immigrants—to enjoy the protection and guarantees of the Constitution. Save for the single reference to Douglass (Line 7), the poem uses the historic figure more as an embodiment of the human will to be free, the determination to never let the idea of freedom falter or be lost to particular historic circumstances. This figure, “this man, superb in love and logic” (Line 10), becomes at once a representative voice in the long American fight for equal rights and a pivotal figure in the evolution of humanity toward a better, more tolerant future.

The sympathy and respect Hayden felt for Douglass, suggested by how Hayden selected a line for this poem to be put on his tomb, reflects Hayden’s own belief, in the earliest days of what would become a fierce and divisive national showdown over the idea of Black rights and the definition of freedom in America, that institutions were better entrusted with the evolution of humanity than the unpredictable and erratic actions of individuals.