David Walker

Walker, David (1785–1830), radical African-American abolitionist. Walker, a free man, educated himself, became an abolitionist speaker, and contributed to Freedom's Journal, a newspaper dedicated to the anti-slavery movement. In 1829 Walker wrote the anti-slavery tract An Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World, which was a strong indictment of all pro-slavery advocates, and which exhorted slaves to revolt against their bondage. Copies of Walker's treatise were smuggled into Southern states in the pockets of second-hand clothing. Legislation was soon introduced outlawing the circulation of all abolitionist literature and making it illegal for slaves to be educated.

See also: Abolitionism.