David Walker's (abolitionist) Appeal

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the appeal made by David Walker to the American public not only to abolish slavery, but, once a slave had been freed, to accord that person all the rights the Biblical Joseph was granted by Egypt's Pharaoh when his servitude was completed. More specifically, however, it was directed toward men of color to rise up and take their place in society. The Biblical references of Walker's appeal are examined.

From the Paper:

"In pre-Civil War America, it was not unusual for abolitionists and slave-owners alike to use the Bible as justification for their beliefs. Harriet Beecher Stowe was the daughter of a clergyman; surely, the knowledge of the Bible's Old Testament she learned at her father's knee would have informed and even sparked the writing of her impassioned novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin. Two decades before Stowe's 1852 book, David Walker was using the Bible not as the impetus to fiction, but as a direct appeal to the American public not only to abolish slavery, but, once a slave had been freed, to accord that person all the rights the Biblical Joseph was granted by Egypt's Pharaoh when his servitude was completed. More specifically, however, it was directed toward men of color to rise up and take their place in society."

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• Analytical Essay # 134513 : "Alice Walker's "Beauty: When the Dancer is the Self"

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