David Walker's Appeal

In the 1850s, abolitionist John Brown's methods in his quest for a free Nation grew more militant, and he is most often remembered by folks today for his armed battles in that decade against pro-slavery elements in Missouri and the Kansas territory, and his unsuccessful 1859 raid on the federal arsenal at Harper's Ferry, Virginia. But Brown had supported the abolition of slavery long before he was hung for treason in December of 1859, including assisting in the publication of the important historical African-American treatise, David Walker's Appeal, of 1829.

The American Memory Collection at the Library of Congress has preserved the Appeal in an 82-page book available online, scanned from a version published in 1965 by Hill and Wang Publishers of New York.

Book source: American Memory Collection, Library of Congress, African American Odyssey, Digital ID: gcmisc ody0118