Characteristics Of David Walker Abolitionism

In 1866, the passage of the 14th amendment granted full citizenship status (de jure) to African Americans. It concretely marked the end of a long era in the United Stated where Black people were completely devoid of human rights, and could be bought and sold as chattel. Although it did not end of the legal and systematic oppression of African Americans, the 14th amendment legally freed most African Americans and served as a stepping stone towards the attainment of full rights. But it did not come about overnight.
In the early 1830s, the rise militant abolitionism would channel the long-standing rebellious feelings of African Americans. The resulting uprisings would fuel white southerners to lash back in defense of slavery during the 1950s,

later contributing to a split from the north. But that defiant spirit never died, and re-emerged in the 1960s as African American fought valiantly for their freedoms during the civil war, and for their rights during reconstruction. Although these were all important markers in the path towards freedom, I will argue that the Civil War was the most momentous milestone in the path to freedom from 1830-1877 because it marked a moment where African Americans were in a position of power, and most visibly took charge of their futures and used that rebellious spirit to make tangible progress towards freedom.
The black abolitionist David Walker, in his 1829 appeal, awakened deep-seated sentiments shared by black Americans when he urged them to take up arms and free themselves.

Walker’s appeal, which was circulated among free African Americans in the south, argued that death was a better fate than enslavement “to a tyrant, who takes the life of [one’s] mother, wife, and dear little children.” Although he was not the first to espouse such ideas, his violent stance broke with the widespread conservative brand of antislavery reform directed black Americans to work within the system to end slavery. Walker’s sentiments were echoes in Nat Turner’s revolt in Virginia and, furthermore, inspired the prominent abolitions, William Lloyd Garrison to likewise adopt militant stance on abolition. This sentiment was paralleled in the north by creation of antislavery societies who called for the end of bondage on a moral basis. The rise of militant abolitionism is uniquely important because it serves as evidence that there was a restless tension in the ether, and that African American would quickly take up arms and free themselves if given the

chance.
In addition, as a consequence of the rise of militant abolitionism, white southerners concluded that that African Americans could not live among them without a race war erupting, such as the one in Haiti.

They used this rhetoric to argue, in some cases, that emancipating a large black population was far too dangerous. On other occasions, they used to as a reason to worsen the conditions of enslaved people, either by outlawing the gathering of slaves, by banning them from learning how to read, or by increasing slave patrols. This theorize fear may have a served as a social justification for the continuation of slavery up until in civil war. On the economic front, westward expansion, and the production of new cash crops in the south made slavery far too profitable for emancipation to be serious consideration for white southerners. In fact, they worked relentlessly to expand it as evident by the passage of the fugitive slave act of 1950, the Kansas-Nebraska act (which threatened to expand slavery in violation of the Missouri Compromise), and arguably by the Dred Scott

Decision.
The civil war, which resulted from the social and economic tensions between the north and south would present African Americans to unleash that pent-up rage. Although they were not initially allowed to enlist, black people were finally given a chance to fight when the North realized that the preservation of the Union depended on the abolition of slavery and the enlistment of black troops. This occasion marked one of the few times in the history of the United States that Africans Americans were decidedly in a position of power. Only they had the ability to determine the fate of the Union, seize their rights as free men, and decidedly dispel stereotypes that were unfairly cast upon them throughout the whole of slavery. And that they did. Black men took part in the majority of battle that were fought in the civil war and even suffered a higher rate of casualties than their white counterparts. Nonetheless, despite the fatal hostility of southern armies, the discrimination by white soldier and officers, and the disparate pay and conditions they endured, black men persevered and played a significant role in the Union’s war success.
Unfortunately, these gains were not long-lasting. Even after the 13th and 14th amendments, African Americans’ right were still large infringed as a result of black codes including vagrancy laws, and other laws which effectively limited the movement and economic freedoms of blacks. Nevertheless, African American persevered. That same rebellious spirit led them to building black Churches, Colleges, and other social institutions serving the betterment of their people. All the while, they could look to their achievement in the civil war as a signpost that they could once again overcome these new forms of oppressions; that they would inevitably prevail.