Question

In the 1829 'Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World', David Walker called for _______.

• A. the gradual abolition of slavery.
• B. a return to Africa for all African Americans.
• C. the immediate abolition of slavery and, if necessary, for slaves to kill their masters.
• D. slaves to wait until the time was right to ask the U.S. government for emancipation.
• E. a separate state for freed people to live in.

Answer 1

The correct option is C the immediate abolition of slavery and, if necessary, for slaves to kill their masters.

In the 1829 Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World, David Walker called for the immediate abolition of slavery and, if necessary, for slaves to kill their masters. Born in North Carolina, David Walker was a free black who moved to Boston and befriended black activists who fought against slavery. His Appeal caused a furor among Southern slave owners because it argued that they were more cruel and barbarous than any other slaveholders in world history. Walker also encouraged slaves to rebel against their owners, to kill or be killed.

He was opposed to gradual abolition as too slow a process in option A and to colonization in option B because the Declaration of Independence said, all men are created equal. He was an American, he reasoned, who should be equal to other Americans, not separate from them in option E. He was for immediate abolition; he was not willing to wait until the government was ready in option D.