Jan 1, 1831
“ The south may reasonably be alarmed at the circulation of Mr. Walker’s Appeal; for a better promotion of insurrection was never sent forth to an oppressed people. In a future number we propose to examine it, as also various editorial comments thereon — it being one of the most remarkable productions of the age. We have already publicly deprecated its spirit.”
Jan 8, 1831
G deprecates the spirit of vengeance in Walker, “Nevertheless, it is not for the American people as a nation, to denounce it as bloody or monstrous. Mr. Walker but pays them in their own coin, but follows their own creed, adopts their own coin, but adopts their own language.”
G goes on to remind Americans that every time they complain about foreign oppression, “is a call for their slaves to destroy them.” ….every 4th of July celebration, “must embitter and enflame the minds of the slaves.”
Here also, G comments on the suspicion that Walker may not have written the Appeal himself: … “the Appeal bears the strongest internal evidence of having emanated from his own mind . No white man could have written in language so natural and enthusiastic.”
Jan 29, 1831
A letter to the editor, from “Leo”, from Philadelphia, indicates opposition to the Appeal, because he does not believe Walker wrote it, not because he is a man of color, but because “the matter brought forward in said pamphlet is the result of more reading than could have fallen to the lot of that man , and at the same time, have left so vulgar as he has been represented to me”….”he never could have read all the authors quoted in his book, and seen of what true greatness consisted….to say nothing of the most excellent criticisms upon the speeches of the most talented men of the age…” He then goes on to disparage the circulation of the pamphlet….”why cast this firebrand so injudiciously among the stubble Behold its injurious effects! …. I am opposed to the pamphlet …. Because I believe it to be at the bottom of the recent enactment of severe laws in the southern states…..”
Garrison in notes to above letter, reminds his readers that ‘we have repeatedly expressed our disapprobation of its (the pamphlet’s) general spirit. It contains , however, many valuable truths and seasonable warnings.’ …….Then he assures readers that he does not question the authorship of the pamphlet……”We are assured, by those who intimately knew him, that his Appeal was an exact transcript of his daily conversations; that, within the last four years, he was hurtfully indefatigable in his studies; that he was not ‘vulgar’, either in manners or language; and that he was a blameless professor of religion. The historical facts which he has collected were too familiar to have required extraordinary research. Besides the internal evidence of the pamphlet clearly substantiates its authorship.”
Jan 29, 1831
An article from the Greensborough (N. C.) Patriot - In reference to Walker’s pamphlet urges its suppression, but says, “we do not believe that it contains all that deep damnation that has been attributed to it..”…. then it goes on to speak of the fear spread among southern Governors and Statesmen, which it calls “misplaced alarm” …..”let us not overlook the burning volcano that lies but partially concealed beneath, the ultimate explosions of which cannot be prevented by adding to the cause which produced it …..If the legislatures of southern states wish to guard effectually against insurrection, they cannot do it by abridging the already limited privileges of the slave. They will, of course be successful for a while, but they will only be drawing tighter that cord of oppression which will ultimately burst asunder. …….their misguided efforts will only serve but to bend that bow which will hurl the arrows of destruction through our country…….Human beings were never made to submit to absolute and unconditional despotism: they never have done it, they never will do
Sat., April 30, 1831
Reference to discussions of Walker, includes something from “the pen of a gentleman of talents whose opinion we solicited of his criticism.” G adds his own notes to this gentleman’s words. The writer is signed “V”:
“I have often heard, and constantly believed, that Walker’s Appeal was the incoherent rhapsody of a blood-thirsty, but vulgar and very ignorant fanatic …..I have now read the book and my opinions are changed.” … That Walker was a fanatic cannot be denied: strong indications of religious delusions may be found in his every page. …..It cannot be disputed that Walker was ignorant, even of the English language ….However, this fault is by no means so glaring as might have been expected in one of his race. I doubt if more than one in three of the white population could have written better English or so good. His fanaticism and want of education nevertheless do not affect the force of his argument, or the strength of his thoughts. There is a truth and boldness in what he advances, an honest indignation, and a powerful though homely eloquence in his manner, that the crust of ignorance and vulgarity cannot hinder from finding their way to the head and heart…..I am convinced that he was a brave, just, good man, endowed with talents of no mean order, deeply and properly persuaded of the wrongs of his race: one, in short, who would, had time and circumstances permitted, have been the apostle and champion of blacks. ….It is vain to call him incendiary, ruffian, or exciter of sedition……I, who say this, am, as you know, a free white man, without personal interest in the question of slavery, in one way or the other, and can have no motive other than the love of truth…….”
May 14, 1831
“V” quotes from Walker, and comments on specific arguments Walker makes. Here are some excerpts from “V”: “Well done, David Walker! I like your spirit, for it will work out the salvation of your brethren. Verily, David Walker was a man! ….. “Here let us pause to reflect. What is to be the end of the American system of oppression? Will it, can it last for ever? And if it does not, how is it to be terminated? — by the consent of the whites, or by the hands of the blacks? ….. Three ways occur to me by which the blacks may possibly be emancipated without bloodshed, viz. by colonizing them elsewhere, by gradual abolition, or by free labor becoming more profitable than that of thralls. ….As to the prospect of their liberation by some means or other, I consider it certain. There are now about as many colored persons within the limits of the union as there were whites at the commencement of our revolution, and it seems to me impossible that they can be prevented from discovering their wrongs. All the laws that can be made cannot wholly exclude the rudiments of learning from among them. …..Negroes have showed their mental capacity in St. Domingue ….That example of bloodshed and misery is before the eyes of our slaves; that tragedy, it seems to me, will soon be enacted on an American stage, with new scenery, unless something is speedily done to prevent it. The actors are now studying their parts, and there will be more such prompters as Walker. At present, they only want a manager. I fear, very much fear, that retribution predicted in the book in question is at hand. ……But — when the slaves shall have attained even the limited degree of knowledge possessed by the free blacks, if they do not rise up and strike for freedom, if they do not settle the account that has been scored for two centuries, Mr.Jefferson will have been proved right in his opinion. When they shall no longer have the excuse of ignorance, and shall not avail themselves of their strength, they will indeed be proved to be baboons, unworthy of the name or privileges of men. (“V” then speaks of a white lawyer he knows who is certain that the condition of the slaves is well enough …and preferable to that of the poor whites in the north. He then asks if such a white would change “conditions” with a slave. “No: but the slaves are black, and that argument oversets all the rules of logic — it is unanswerable.”
May 28, 1831
Another article from “V”, titled, Walker’s Appeal No. 3, fills the entire first page and concludes on the second. It includes long quotes from the Appeal, and comments such as this: “Mr. Clay comes in for a share of censure, for having lent his countenance to the Colonization Society. May the Lord forgive Walker for the aspersion he ignorantly casts on that virtuous and eminent man. Mr. Clay saw a great evil in the land, the curse of bondage, and like many other good men, caught desperately at the only means to ameliorate it that occurred to his mind.”
“Walker’s remarks on the Declaration of Independence are pointed and to the purpose……the instrument has a most unhappy beginning, for its first clause, in the mouth, of any inhabitant of any of the slave states, is a base lie, or, at best, at vile piece of national hypocrisy…… How can man who holds a slave, or assists another to hold him, say that all men are born free and equal? Any foreigner has a right to call him a fool or a hypocrite.”
May 28, 1841
“Any person having a copy of the above work to dispose of, will incur a favor by calling at 25 Cornhill.”