David Walker Slavery

Slavery is one of America’s most embarrassing mistakes in history. The country made the decision that a group of individuals was inferior merely due to their skin color. As a result, African Americans were treated as animals. They were forced to work for no pay, their rights were taken away, and they were beaten for punishment. Individuals such as David Walker attempted to eliminate slavery in various ways. In his “Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World (Excerpts),” David Walker discusses the issue of slavery, ignorance, the colonizing plan, and the hypocrisy of the situation. With this said, he encourages African Americans to use force in order to eliminate inequality, which merely widens the gap between Caucasians and African Americans. …show more content…
Due to the ignorance of Caucasians, they did not question their fathers about their use of slavery. Instead, they chose to ignore their Christian beliefs in order to make more money. In addition to the ignorance of slaveholders themselves, slaves were kept in a state of ignorance in order to keep them from acknowledging the immorality of their situation and revolting against Caucasians. David Walker discusses the fact that “the major part of white Americans, have, ever since we have been among them, tried to keep us ignorant, and make us believe that God made [African Americans] and [their] children to be slaves to [Caucasians]” (4). Although Caucasians used this as a religious justification for slavery, it is merely a lie. God looks at all individuals equally. David Walker acknowledges this hypocrisy when he states “Oh, my God, have mercy on Christian Americans” …show more content…
Due to the fact that African Americans were “brought up in ignorance,” there was no “fitness for such to be sent into a far away country” (Walker 5). David Walker also brings up the point that “This land which we have watered with our tears and our blood, is now our mother country, and we are well satisfied to stay where wisdom abounds and the gospel is free” (6). Lastly, Walker argues that there would not be any difference between living in America and living in Africa. He asks “if there be ground sufficient for them to cultivate, and bread for them to eat, why would they wish to send the first tillers of the land away?” (Walker 6). As for the Liberians, they would view the slaves as foreign. This could create a tension between them akin to that of Caucasians and African Americans. In addition, they might not have enough land or food for the slaves to live off of. Overall, the colonization plan would have been a bad idea. America should have focused more on ending