David Walker: Abolitionist Smuggled “Appeal for a Slave Revolt” to the South in Used Clothing

David Walker was a black abolitionist and publisher born in Wilmington, North Carolina, in 1785.

He was the son of a slave father and free mother.

Since Walker’s mother was a free woman of color, he grew up free as well.

When the smuggled pamphlets began to appear in the South, the states reacted with legislation prohibiting the circulation of abolitionist literature, in addition to forbidding slaves to learn to read and write.

His “Appeal for a Slave Revolt” was widely reprinted after his death and accepted by a small minority of abolitionists.