39 pages • 1 hour read
David Harry WalkerDavid Walker's Appeal
Nonfiction | Essay / Speech | Adult | Published in 1995A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
PreambleChapter Summaries & Analyses
Preamble Summary
Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses enslavement and racism.
David Walker begins by addressing his “dearly beloved Brethren and Fellow Citizens” and arguing that enslaved Black people in the American South are the “most degraded, wretched, and abject set of beings that ever lived since the world began” (11). Although there have been many incarnations of slavery throughout human history, Walker argues that none have been as cruel as the version that has taken root in the United States. Going public with his Appeal, Walker expects to face danger from both white enslavers and enslaved African Americans who have been convinced of their own inferiority. Nevertheless, he precedes, claiming that the situation African Americans find themselves in cannot get worse, and he hopes his Appeal will “awaken […] a spirit of inquiry and investigation” in the hearts of his “brethren” (12).
Walker claims that “the inhuman system of slavery” (12) is primarily responsible for the “miseries” that African Americans experience. He briefly traces the various manifestations of slavery in Spain, Portugal, England, France, and the United States, claiming that the labor of enslaved people “comes so cheap” that nations of slavers “overlook the evils” (13). However, Walker argues that God is watching and hears oppressed peoples’ cries. One day, he will exact retribution on the “avaricious usurpers.” He briefly mentions the various ways that God has punished oppressors, from throwing Egyptians into the Red Sea to the fall of Constantinople. While these “heathen nations” fell for various reasons, Walker argues that God is just and merciful and punished oppressors for their cruel treatment of enslaved people. As proof, he argues that the violence gripping Spain at the time of writing is a product of the Spaniards’ perpetuation of slavery. He insists that God cannot be “a God of justice” if he allows tyrants “peace and tranquility” to treat enslaved people with “the most abject ignorance and degradation” (17).
Preamble Analysis
In his Preamble, Walker introduces the purpose of his Appeal. He frames the text as a call to action and a denunciation of the dehumanizing effects of slavery and racism. He introduces the main arguments of the Appeal, expressing his outrage at the inhumane treatment of African Americans and the hypocrisy of white Christian Americans who perpetuate the institution of slavery.
Walker addresses the Appeal as a message to his fellow African Americans, calling on them to recognize their inherent worth and claim to freedom and encouraging them to stand up and fight against their oppression. Throughout the Appeal, Walker illustrates how slavery works to dehumanize African Americans by treating them as “brutes” rather than “men.” Addressing his African American readers as his “brethren” and “fellow citizens” suggests a sense of egalitarianism; his “brethren” are just as capable of speaking out against slavery as Walker, and they are all “citizens,” deserving of the same rights and privileges as white American men. Later in the Appeal, Walker will discuss the importance of educating all Black people to bring about true emancipation and dispel racist beliefs of inferiority, and this inclusive language mirrors that need.
Throughout the Appeal, Walker uses religious and political rhetoric along with historical evidence to support his argument. He begins to use these techniques in the Preamble, comparing the “enlightened and Christian nation” of the United States to “those heathen nations of antiquity” (11), who nevertheless treated their enslaved people far better than white Christian Americans. This introduces The Contradiction Between Slavery and Democratic Christian Ideals, one of the Appeal’s key themes. Starting in the Preamble, Walker shows how the treatment of African American enslaved people represents a profound moral failing that goes against the principles of Christianity, democratic values, and basic human decency. As a Christian nation, the United States should treat all its citizens with the highest respect; however, Walker argues that slavery in heathen nations of antiquity cannot compare to the inhumane treatment that is reserved for African Americans.
While the Appeal is a call to action for African Americans on the one hand, it functions as a stark warning to white Americans on the other. One of Walker’s key arguments is that the Christian God is a God of justice. Therefore, he will not grant “peace and tranquility to tyrants” (17). As evidence, Walker describes the downfall of nations that practiced slavery. He lingers on Spain, a Christian nation like the United States, and claims that slavery was “the principal cause” of the country’s downfall. Anyone who accepts that God is just and that African Americans are “of the human family” (23) can see that God was punishing Spain for its treatment of enslaved people. Walker insists that God is on the side of the oppressed and that retribution is certain if white Americans don’t repent. He hopes the Appeal will convince African Americans to no longer accept their own subjugation and make white Americans aware of the moral and social catastrophe they are creating by maintaining the institution of slavery.
