Although his father had been a slave, David Walker himself was
born free in North Carolina. His hatred of slavery drove him to
Boston, where he became a clothing merchant, but he was unable
to forget his brethren who were still in bondage. The result was
that in 1829, he published a pamphlet which was both a vehement
attack against the institution of slavery and an open invitation
for the slaves to rise up in arms.
First, he pointed out that all races of the earth were called men
and assumed to be free with the sole exception of the Africans.
He denied that his people wished to be white, insisting rather
that they preferred to be just as their creator had made them.
Urging his brothers not to show fear because God was on their
side, Walker contended that any man who was not willing to fight
for his freedom deserved to remain in slavery and to be butchered by his
captors. Insisting that death was preferable to slavery,
he insisted that, if an uprising occurred, the slaves would have
to be willing to kill or be killed. Moreover, he urged that it
was no worse to kill a man in self-defense than it was to take a
drink of water when thirsty.
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