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Hannah Fowler
Sharples
Com 415
Critical Evaluation
26 September 2013
When studying the pre-civil war black abolitionist movement, the stories that
might be more attractive are the ones that resulted in revolt and upheaval. For example,
Nate Turner’s 1831 revolt in Southampton Virginia that resulted in 55 dead slaveholders
is widely remembered (Reynolds). However, we must ask how a body of so many
rebellions was encouraged to come together. This leads to a need to examine powerful
abolitionist discourse during the time, namely David Walker’s “Appeals” pamphlet
published in Freedoms Journal in 1829. “Appeals” is regarded as the “sole reason for the
enactment of many Southern suppression laws” (Reynolds) and the beginning of the “free
speech debate. As a discourse, Walker’s “Appeals” created this ability to revolt by
empowering the black man, redefining his character, and reclaiming his identity. By
examining the piece through the rhetorical situation, including rupture, collective
memory, exigency, identification, and invective used in the discourse, Walker’s attempt
to redefine the Negro can be exposed, analyzed, and honored.
Rhetorical Situation
The rhetorical situation gives critics a template with which to examine a
discourse. Because “Appeals” was such a controversial piece for its time, it is crucial to
examine the environment that was both influenced and affected by the discourse.
Beginning this analysis by exploring the context, rhetor, audience, and later summarizing
effect, will provide motive to the text that will aid in further examination of “Appeals.”
Context
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During the time of publication, September 1829, blacks were growing tired and
many were on the brink of upheaval (Hartnett). Possibly motivated by the beginnings of
southern slave rebellion David Walker wrote his piece in the Freedom’s Journal to
encourage slaves to revolt. Within this movement, abolitionist speech began to be an
issue for state governments. At the time, free speech was governed by the federal
government, and states struggled to keep abolitionist’s material from being published
(Reynolds). This led to many state legislative by-laws allowing them to censor discourse
(Hartnett). However, in this federal and state conflict “Appeals” was able to get
attention.
Rhetor
This widespread attention was much deserved by David Walker. He was one of
the first black men to speak of the wretchedness of slavery. Born in 1785 to a free
mother, Walker grew up in the South but moved to Boston in 1827 because of his hatred
of southern whites (Hartnett). In Boston he opened a second-hand clothing store to serve
for those in need, and began to be well known in the black community for his humility
and generosity (Powell). In Boston, he wrote his “Appeals” to strengthen the slave
community to fight back against oppressors that he had so much distain.
Audience
Throughout his piece it is clear that Walker has two distinct audiences. His target
audience is the slaves in captivity. He spent most of his time building up that community
while inserting threats directed toward his oppositional audience, the white slave-holders.
The majority of the text is written in a speaking tone to the slaves. However, it almost
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seems as if Walker cared just as much to indirectly speak to the white oppressors.
Discourse
Although it is a written text, David Walkers “Appeal” reads as if he is speaking to
the masses. The punctuation and expression throughout suggests that the discourse is
meant to, at the very least, be read aloud. Walker writes that he expects “to be put in
prison or to death, for giving a superficial exposition of our miseries and exposing
tyrants.” He understands the weight of his ideas and the controversy this piece would
spread. By exploring the rupture, collective memory, exigency, identification, and
invective used in the “Preamble and Article II,” it is clear that David Walker saw no time
to waste and bravely exposed the truth behind many veiled hypocrisies in white Christian
American logic.
Rupture
David Walker exposes himself as an academic that prides himself, and others, on
intelligence. This is evident in his repeated use of the word, “ignorance” as the ultimate
insult and oppressor. He begins his appeals by prefacing that he is aware that after
publication of “Appeals,” he will be regarded as “an ignorant, impudent and restless
disturber of the peace” by the white community. This implies that “ignorant” is possibly a
term used by white Americans to describe black people during the time. He continues to
illustrate the social hierarchy using “ignorance” by the definition of whites. To
paraphrase, Walker highlights the social structure by explaining, this group is ignorant,
this group is more ignorant than that, and finally there is this group “who are too ignorant
to see an inch beyond their noses.”
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However, Walker ruptures “ignorance” throughout the piece. Typically, the term
is defined as the chosen absence of knowing, but Walker suggests that ignorance is
something that is trusted onto the black community by whites to contain them into
unintelligence. Walker states “Ignorance, my brethren, is a mist, low down into the very
dark and almost impenetrable abyss in which our fathers for many centuries have been
plunged.” Like a “mist” ignorance is something that people of color could feel but not
see, suggesting that they don’t realize that information is being kept from them, but they
can feel in a second sense that they are unknowing. He empathizes with the audience
forced into this state explaining that their knowledge “[has] not the chance to develop in
consequence of oppression.” Yet, his last appeal encourages people of color to
understand that ignorance is not a natural cause, or something that is innately associated
them “as Americans would like us to believe.” It is a “misfortune.” This is the overall
idea of rupturing “ignorance” allows people of color to understand that this is an identity
given by white people, and people of the color have the ability to create their own
identity.
Collective Memory…satire
David Walker attempts to trigger public memory when he lists the various stories
about how slaves were able to revolt against their slave owners and oppressors. However,
he does this in the form of a satire. He might have been aware that his audience was tired
of hearing the story of Roman slaves, Israelites to equate their experiences to those of
past history. Instead of illustrating each story in detail, Walker writes, when referring to
Egypt “I am not here to speak of the destructions.” “Nor have I time to comment” on the
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Roman’s under the dictator Caesar, when referring to the fall of the Roman Empire. By
listing these stories he is triggering public memory just as he says he will not.
Finally he states, “I shall not take up time to speak of the causes” for destruction.
However, he elaborates by writing that slavery is the cause for the fall of these empires
and civilizations, just as he takes time to slip in a small blurb about each story. By listing
every story, he is suggesting that his audience does not need to hear these stories again
for they are already knowledgeable about them. This compliments his audience
suggesting that they are educated on this subject. However, he continues to elaborate on
each story anyway. By doing this, he grants his audience with intellectual confidence in a
time when they are told they are “ignorant.”
Exigency
The urgent nature under Walker argument is mostly applied to his white audience.
The pieces read as if they are a warning to white slave owners. The rhetor establishes
exigency in the fear tactics he uses to explain to the Americans that the final judgment
lies with God and the slaves have the power to revolt. He beings this exigency by stating
that blacks cannot be treated worse because “They are afraid to treat us worse, for they
know well, the day they do it they are gone.” Walker threatens that audience, but doesn’t
suggest how they are going to be “gone.” He does write that White Americans are not
making God happy, and he almost depicts a rapture type of scenario. Walker writes
“[God] being a just and holy Being will at one day appear fully in behalf of the
oppressed, and arrest the progress of the avaricious oppressors.” This is the judgment day
illustrated in the book of Revelations in the Bible. Walker explains this is when the
whites will get what they deserve. He continues; “[He will] cause them to rise up one
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against another, to be split and divided, and to oppress each other, and sometimes to open
hostilities with sword in hand.” This is the hell that will be forced upon the whites where
they will “oppress each other” for eternity.
This exigency is possible meant to scare slave holders by their own God. Walker
reminds the slaveholders that they are not the supreme master. That position is in the
hands of God. He writes “God made man to serve Him alone,” and “God Almighty is the
sole proprietor or master of the WHOLE human family.” Essentially, we are all slaves
under God. This implies that the whites are slaves themselves, and they are stealing
God’s people. While it could be considered problematic to call God a destroyer and a
God to be feared, David Walker is using language to which white Christian Americans
can understand and relate.
Identification
Walker notices that the black identity is contrasted by whites to oppress them.
They are given adjectives such as “ignorant” discussed earlier. There lies room for people
of color to self-identify once they realizes their identity has previously been forced onto
them. Walker states “we are men, notwithstanding our improminent noses and woolly
heads, and believe that we feel for our fathers, mothers, wives and children, as well as
whites do for theirs.” In stating this he is redefining the social definition of the “man.”
Just because the African Americans look different than the men in power does not make
one less of a man. Therefore, they deserve the rights of men. By listing ethnic descriptors,
he suggests that man is not defined by race.
He continues to identity his audience as purebred Americans. He writes “America
is more our country than it is the whites—we have enriched it with our blood and tears.”
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Not only has the black population been responsible for the literally upkeep of American
land, but they have been stimulating the Southern economy for generations. Therefore,
that land is their “property.” This Walkers attempt to elevate the back citizens to the
highest level of social privilege through identification. He establishes them as
“American” “property” owning “men.” He is equating the black population with the very
group with which they wish to be equal.
Invective
An invective rhetorical strategy exposes hypocrisy in the arguments of whites. He
establishes the hypocrisy literally as he examines the use of “brutes” in a newspaper and
figuratively in the idea of the Christian American. Walker states that he saw an article in
a South Carolina newspaper that read “The Turks are the most barbarous people in the
world—they treat the Greeks more like brutes than human beings.” This article does not
cause for much examination until an advertisement is read in the same paper. “Eight well
built Virginia and Maryland Negro fellows and four wenches will positively be sold this
day, to the highest bidder!” This newspaper supported both ideas, but in the first article
they question the audacity of the Turks to be so dehumanizing to the Greeks, yet they
enforce the same brutality onto the “negro fellows and four wenches.” The rhetor
exposes a double standard between the humane treatment of white men verses enslaved
men.
Less noticeably, the idea of the Christian American is illuminated as hypocrisy in
itself. The teachings of the Christian faith clearly state that followers of God should treat
all God’s children with kindness. He writes “wretchedness and endless miseries were
reserved…to be poured out upon our fathers, ourselves and our children, by Christian
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Americans.” Many of the oppressors identify themselves as Christians, yet act with so
much hatred. This creates a walking hypocrisy. Every oppressive action and word is
denounced by their religion, yet it highlights the inability for white Christian Americans
to see that their slaves were men that actually deserved to be treated as children of God.
Summary
David Walker’s “Appeal” completed its task in exposing the harsh truth of white
Christian American hypocrisy. However, this pamphlet made waves after publication.
More importantly the argument of the abolitionist’s right to free speech began to come
into play. Many southern states thought the pamphlet would result in slave uprising
against slave owners and refused to print “Appeals,” and this lead to the mayor of
Savannah Georgia, William Williams, and the governor of Georgia, George Gilmer to
pass legislation preventing printing and distributing black abolitionist literature
(Reynolds). The huge impact this pamphlet made on both slaves and slave-holders might
have resulted in much tension between the two groups. This shows that the “Appeals”
were created to get people to both act and fear. By reviewing the rupture, collective
memory, exigency, identification, and invective it can be argued that Walker’s works
planted the seed for folks to join Nate Turner’s slave uprising. This piece was not a
revolt, but it demonstrates how powerful literature can be when persuading the minds of
an oppressed group.
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Works Cited
Hartnett, Stephen. "Lincoln And Douglas Meet The Abolitionist David Walker As
Prisoners Debate Slavery: Enpowering.." Journal Of Applied Communication
Research 26.2 (1998): 232-253. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web.
20 Sept. 2013.
Powell, William S. “David Walker, 1785-1830.” Dictionary of North Carolina
Biography. 1979-1996. Web. 20 Sept. 2013
Reynolds, Amy. "The Impact Of Walker's Appeal On Northern And Southern
Conceptions Of Free Speech In The Nineteenth Century." Communication Law &
Policy 9.1 (2004): 73-100.Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 22
Sept. 2013.