This week we're going to be doing a little back and forth work between the parallel courses of Anti-Slavery and equal rights for women. Our first two objections to slavery as a practice were written by white men. We shouldn't get the idea that Black Americans were silent on the subject. David Walker certainly wasn't silent, and he didn't mince words. As you note what he has to say, keep track of the fact that his work was written in four sections. You'll want to keep track of the assertions and evidence in each of them. He died just months after this second edition was published. Some say poison, others say Tuberculosis. Modern analysis might be able to tell which, but perhaps it is better to let Rev. Walker Rest in Peace.
Download, Read, and Annotate, from the Core Canon,
We'll continue our discussion of David Walker's Appeal today, as we were interrupted by my cannonade of sneezes and a bit less reading done than I would have prefered. Pay attention to the Tone of Walker's writing. This is one angry man, and we'll note that he was angry against blacks as well as whites.
As you read these documents by Sarah Grimke, try to see what the distinctions is between "inequalities" and "legal disabilities". How did these two kinds of discrimination interact with each other? We'll see at least some of them disappear over time, but perhaps not all--which might still exist in some way or other today?