The Sorrows Will Be Avenged

African American David Walker an abolitionist wrote “Walker’s Appeal” September 28^th 1829 recommending slave use violence to gain their freedom.

David Walker was born in Wilmington, North Carolina the son of a free mother and a slave father, making Walker a free man.  He moved to Boston, Massachusetts in 1826, saying of the south, that if he stayed “in this bloody land, I will not live long. As true as God reigns, I will be avenged for the sorrows which my people have suffered."  Once in Boston, Walker went to work for the abolitionist newspaper the “Freedom’s Journal”.  Walker published an article September 28^th 1828 that would become known as “Walker’s Appeal”.  The Appeal denounced slavery and called for violence toward white men, saying that liberty would only come through rebellion.

Slave owners were naturally worried and had a reward put out for Walker’s capture, dead or alive.  In Georgia, the state legislature the circulation of any materials inciting slaves to revolt, would to be a capital offense.

Walker died June 28^th 1830 in Boston, Massachusetts.

A good web site for more information is David Walker's Appeal