But they'll never take our FREEDOM!!!!!!!!!!!!

For Douglass, there are several aspects to freedom.  One major component of freedom for Douglass was freedom of consciousness.  Slaves were not only slaves physically, but mentally as well.  Through fear and violence, slave-masters sought to control the thoughts of their slaves, and keep them ignorant as to the world around them.  Realizing ignorance and bondage was no way to live, Douglass educated himself, and became more completely aware of the awful institution that was slavery.  Another important aspect was physical freedom, of course.  Once he gained his freedom, Douglass was ecstatic that he could finally perform free labor, and keep his entire paycheck.  This physical freedom, coupled with an awareness of the surrounding world, seem to define freedom for Frederick Douglass. 

Ralph Waldo Emerson seems to define freedom as freedom from societal pressures.  In his essay/address "The American Scholar', he speaks lowly of "the bookworm", or he who spends his time with his nose buried in a book.  To Emerson, gaining knowledge through direct experience was of the utmost importance.  Merely mimicking what one reads in a book was not ideal for Emerson.  Instead, Emerson advocates going into nature, away from the social constructs of man, and experiencing the world that way.  For Emerson, this was freedom.

Walt Whitman was probably the most extreme in his view of freedom amongst these three.  Whitman seemed to want freedom from the world.  Not freedom from the earth, as he seems to enjoy his time spent outdoors, but from the world of societies.  Society, and all of its ideas, were seen as fake to Whitman, and he did what he could to avoid society.  But Whitman realized this was too easy to do, physically, as he lived in a time when one could leave society for nature.  So it seems that Whitman also sought freedom from his mind, or more specifically, the way society has influenced his mind.  In "Song of Myself", Whitman adjourns himself from society, and lets his mind just wander, indulging in all the pleasures that naturally come to him, unhindered by the constraints of society. 

For these men, freedom seems to, essentially, boil down to a freedom of consciousness.  The ability to truly think and experience, free from outside influence, was espoused by these authors.  The most obvious difference between these men is that Douglass was born as, and experienced a significant portion of his life, as a slave.  This literal lack of freedom clearly influenced Douglass in a way much different than how the institution of slavery affected Emerson or Whitman.  Another difference lies in Whitman's view.  While Emerson and Douglass didn't suggest completely leaving one's society, Whitman seems to advocate exactly that.  Emerson and Douglass seem to embrace a certain degree of separation, while Whitman seems to want to go all the way.