Your history dose for the morning.
On this day in 1826 an American abolitionist, writer, and anti-slavery activist, David Walker is born. Though his father was enslaved, his mother was free; therefore, he was free as well (partus sequitur ventrem).
In 1829, while living in Boston, Massachusetts, with the assistance of the African Grand Lodge (later named Prince Hall Grand Lodge, Jurisdiction of Massachusetts), he published An Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World, a call for black unity and a fight against slavery. Walker is best known for this powerful anti-slavery pamphlet “David Walker’s Appeal.” The “Appeal” was published on this same day in 1829.
The Appeal brought attention to the abuses and inequities of slavery and the responsibility of individuals to act according to religious and political principles. At the time, some people were aghast and fearful of the reaction that the pamphlet would provoke. Southern citizens were particularly upset with Walker's viewpoints and as a result there were laws banning circulation of "seditious publications" and North Carolina's "legislature enacted the most repressive measures ever passed in North Carolina to control slaves and free blacks"
In September 1829, Walker published his appeal to African Americans, entitled Walker's Appeal, in Four Articles; Together with a Preamble, to the Colored Citizens of the World, but in Particular, and Very Expressly, to Those of the United States of America, Written in Boston, State of Massachusetts, September 28, 1829. The first edition is quite rare; a second and then a third edition appeared in 1830. Walker's second edition, of 1830, expressed his views even more strongly than the first edition. Walker appealed to his readers to take an active role in fighting their oppression, regardless of the risk, and to press white Americans to realize that slavery was morally and religiously repugnant.
The Appeal was semi-forgotten by 1848; a great deal of other abolitionist writing, much inspired by Walker, had appeared in those 18 years. It received a new life with its reprinting in 1848 by the black minister Henry Highland Garnet, who in another 17 years would be the first African American ever to address the U.S. Congress. Garnet included the first biography of David Walker, and a similarly-themed speech of his own, his 'Address to the Slaves of the United States of America.' which was perceived as so radical that it was rejected for publication when delivered, in 1843. The most influential white abolitionist, John Brown, played a role in getting the volume of Garnet printed.
Contributing to our consciousness of the past, to inform us of the present, thus enabling us to more effectively fore see and influence the future.
Have a great morning
