David Walker’s Appeal to Colored Citizens of the World

Title of the Document

David Walker’s Appeal to Colored Citizens of the World

One Line Summary

This was a piece that advocated for black nationalism and the immediate end to slavery

Author

David Walker

Date Created

1829

Location

Boston, MA

Type of Document

Pamphlet

Publisher

Peter Williams Jr and Samuel E. Cornish

Transcription

David Walker’s Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World is a pamphlet that was published in America’s first black owned newspaper, “The Freedom’s Journal”. This appeal is a piece that exposes America for its hypocrisy concerning the claimed beliefs of “freedom and justice for all” while fighting for its independence from Britain, while continuing to exploit black people through the practice of chattel slavery. His writing reached a wide audience, considering that his radical approach to a justified claim had him killed a couple of years later.

Related

Not too many individuals are explicitly mentioned in this document, however, there are specific groups or communities that are referred to. For example, Walker mentions the Greeks and Romans, America’s forefathers, Native American Tribes in the U.S., and, of course, people of African descent across the globe. However the one person who is brought up by Walker is Thomas Jefferson for notoriously being hypocritical of America’s foundational principles being thrown out the window in the case of slavery.

David Walker (1796-1830)

Provenance

“Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World, September 28, 1829,” Library of
Congress, E446 .W178