In 1830 at a clothing store near the Boston Harbor, David Walker carefully stitched a pamphlet into the lining of a sailor’s coat. The volume was thin enough to be completely hidden, but its content was far from insubstantial. In fact, at the time, many members of the US government considered this pamphlet to be one of the most dangerous documents in American history. So to ensure this volume reached his audience, Walker had to hide his work in the clothing of both willing co-conspirators and unknowing sailors; smuggling the pamphlet throughout the country. But what was this incendiary document? And who exactly was the man who wrote it?
Son of an enslaved father and a freedwoman, David Walker was born free in the late 18th century in Wilmington, North Carolina. From a young age, he sought to extend his freedom to all Black Americans, and after moving to Charleston as a young man, he became closely involved with the African Methodist Episcopal Church. At that time, the mainstream movement to end slavery was comprised of societies led by wealthy white men who favored gradual change and avoided confrontation with slaveholders. But the AME Church practiced a more radical brand of abolition. In 1822, AME leader Denmark Vesey planned a major insurrection intended to violently liberate Charleston’s enslaved community and set the city ablaze. It’s unclear if Walker contributed to Vesey’s plan, but he wasn’t among the many AME members who were arrested and executed for this attempted rebellion.
In 1825, Walker surfaced in Boston, where he rejoined the fight against slavery. In addition to marrying fellow activist Eliza Butler and opening his clothing store, Walker helped fund America’s first Black-owned newspaper. Is passionate articles and public speeches sought to instill pride and camaraderie into those fighting for Black liberation. But to truly unite free and enslaved Black Americans, Walker would have to go beyond Boston.
In 1829, he poured his ideas into the “Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World.” This treatise was punctuated with furious exclamation marks and emphasized the spiritual righteousness of resistance. He described the suffering of enslaved people in graphic detail to prove that the reality for Black Americans was often “kill or be killed.” And given these circumstances, Walker staunchly defended the right to militant action. This wasn’t his only departure from moderate mainstream abolitionists. To stress the importance of Black solidarity, Walker connected American abolitionism with global movements for Black liberation. He called for an international Black freedom struggle in an early display of what would come to be called Pan-Africanism. But at the same time, he opposed the popular movement for Black Americans to emigrate to Africa. While the “Appeal” criticized the Founding Fathers for their hypocrisy, Walker insisted that Black people were essential to the country’s creation, and had an undeniable right to American citizenship.
Walker suspected these incendiary arguments would make him a target for violence. But in spite of the danger, he continued using sailors to smuggle his work. The “Appeal” traveled down the coast into the hands of shopkeepers, church leaders, political organizers, and underground abolitionist networks. For these readers, Walker’s words galvanized militant efforts to overthrow slave owners and its call to arms struck fear into white officials. Police intercepted its delivery, and quarantined Black sailors at Southern ports. The pamphlet inspired Louisiana to ban anti-slavery literature, and both North and South Carolina cracked down on Black education to prevent literacy among enslaved peoples. Southern officials even placed a bounty on Walker’s head worth the modern equivalent of $322,000. But while friends urged him to flee, Walker refused to abandon his cause. Tragically, his bravery couldn’t protect him from the deadliest disease of his time. In August 1830, Walker was found dead. And while his associates declared him the victim of assassination, it’s now widely believed that he died from tuberculosis.
Following his death, Walker's message continued to resound. Frederick Douglass credited him as the originator of radical abolitionism, and his “Appeal” inspired some of the most influential members of the 20th century liberation movement. From Malcolm X’s militant approach to Black resistance, to James Cone’s writing on Black spirituality, Walker’s legacy remains crucially important to the history of Black resistance movements— and their visions for the future.
