I. Analysis of David Walker and Maria W. Stewart

The works of David Walker and Maria W. Stewart are quite dynamic considering the times. Their writings and speeches took place during a period that if a black person spoke so boldly about the horrors of the sick institution of slavery, more often than not he/she were writing their own death sentence.

The nineteenth century was an era of great change in the United States. The US had recently fought and won its independence from England, using such arguments that the citizens of the colonies were treated as little more than slaves and the idea of being taxed without representation. All the ideals and notions of what liberty and freedom should be based on were written in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States with the premise that all men are created equal.

With those very thoughts in mind many abolitionist, black and white, freeborn and escaped slave made their voices heard. Non may have been as profoundly militant in tone as David Walker was. His articles that he used as speeches and presentations were delivered in Boston and around New England. His writings were directed toward the black populations of slaves and freemen. The student who appreciated the speeches and the rhetoric of Malcolm X will understand that David Walker's Appeal is the cornerstone to the tones and themes of more contemporary images such as Marcus Garvey, Paul Robeson, Malcolm X, certain references of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s speeches, Kwame Toure, and the political actions and rhetoric of the 1960s and 1970s Black Panther - Black Power movements.

Walker was born in Wilmington, NC on September 28, 1785. His mother was a free-woman and his father a slave. The North Carolina law stated that the child inherited the status of the mother regardless of the father's social station. His mother instilled in him a profound outrage toward the institution of slavery. As he traveled the south, Walker was a witness to the brutalities of slavery and pledged to fight the perverse inhumanity that slavery invoked.

In 1826 Walker settled in Boston established a small clothing boutique that financed his education and intense research that helped produced The Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World. Between 1827 and 1830 Walker's articles were found in such publications as Freedom's Journal, a weekly abolitionist newspaper published in New York by African American journalist, and the Liberator, published by William Lloyd Garrison.

In 1830 David Walker was found dead near his clothing boutique. It is presumed that he was assassinated by someone or some group that felt threatened by his call for insurrection by the slaves and a descendents of Africans world wide, but those most especially in the United States of America. Attached are excerpts from David Walker's Appeal that opens a window to his daring, outspoken "appeal" to the literate and privileged African to enlighten his more wretched, ignorant brethren.

Ignorance and treachery one against the other-a grovelling servile and abject submission to the lash of tyrants, we see plainly, my brethren, are not the natural elements of the blacks, as the Americans try to make us believe; but these are misfortunes which God has suffered our fathers to be enveloped in for many ages, no doubt in consequence of their disobedience to their maker and which do, indeed, reign at this time among us, almost to the destruction of all other principles: for I must truly say, that ignorance, the mother of treachery and deceit, gnaws into our very vitals. Ignorance, as it now exists among us, produces a state of things, Oh my Lord! Too horrible to present to the world. Any man who is curious to see the full force of ignorance developed among the coloured people of the United States of America, has only to ago into the southern and western states of this confederacy, where, if he is not a tyrant, but has feelings of a human being, who can feel for a fellow creature, he may see enough to make his very heart bleed! He may see there, a son take his mother, who bore almost the pains of death to give him birth, and by the command of a tyrant, strip her as naked as she came into the world, and apply the cowhide to her, until she falls a victim to death in the road! He may see a husband take his dear wife, not unfrequently in a pregnant state, and perhaps far advanced, and beat her for an unmerciful wretch, until his infant falls a lifeless lump at her feet!

Can the Americans escape God Almighty? If they do, can he be to us a God of Justice? God is just, and I know it - for he has convinced me to my satisfaction - I cannot doubt him... And when my curious observer comes to take notice of those who are said to be free, (which assertion I deny) and who are making some frivolous pretensions to common sense, he will see that branch of ignorance among the slaves assuming a more cunning and deceitful course of procedure. -He may see some of my brethren in league with tyrants, selling their won brethren into hell upon earth, not dissimilar to the exhibitions in Africa, but in a more secret, servile and abject manner. Oh Heaven! I am full!!! I can hardly move my pen!! And I expect some will try to put me to death... (Article II, pg. 41-42)

Religion, my brethren, is a substance of deep consideration among all nations of the earth... But pure and undefiled religion, such as was preached by Jesus Christ and his apostles, is hard to be found in all earth...The Europeans in Europe, who, in open violation of which, have made merchandise of us, and it does appear as though they take this very dispensation to aid them in their infernal depredations upon us. Indeed, the way in which religion was and is conducted by the Europeans and their descendants, one might believe it was a plan fabricated by themselves and the devils to oppress us. But hark! My master has taught me better than to believe it-he has taught me that his gospel as it was preached by himself and his apostles remains the same, not withstanding Europe has tried to mingle blood and oppression with it...

The Pagans, Jews and Mahometans try to make proselytes to their religions, and whatever human beings adopt their religions they extend to them their protection. But Christian Americans, not only hinder their fellow creatures, the Africans, but thousands of them will absolutely beat a coloured person nearly to death, if they catch him on his knees, supplicating the throne of grace. This barbarous cruelty was by all the heathen nations of antiquity, and is by the Pagans, Jews and Mahometans of the present day, left entirely to Christian Americans to inflict on the Africans and their descendants, that their cup which is nearly full may be completed... (Article III, pg.55-57)

As mentioned above, Maria W. Stewart was another out spoken individual of her times. While most women, regardless of their race, were relegated to the background of the abolitionist movement. She addressed large audiences regarding the evils of slavery. Mrs. Stewart writings referred to the demoralization of African peoples based on the degrading practices of the institution of slavery and pushed the need for racial uplift. She was also a very strong political advocate and lecturer in defense of women's rights; she is generally considered the first American female, black or white, to address large mixed assemblages of men while lecturing on the New England abolitionist circuit.

Maria W. Stewart, like David Walker, felt urged to raise the position of those caught in the wretched holds of slavery that brought about ignorance and poverty. Just as slavery relegated blacks to the lowest level of society, so did prejudice. For without prejudice and ignorance of the majority of the population, slavery had no fertile ground to maintain its growth.

The power of her words can be read in her Lecture, delivered At The Franklin Hall, in Boston, Massachusetts on September 21, 1832 in the Stewart, Maria W. Productions. The lecture she delivered at Franklin Hall created so much controversy that she was booed and most males of that audience felt no woman should dictate (no matter how true her words) to a male audience their course of action or the actions of the white populace. Within this site there are several of her lectures that she presented throughout Boston and New England.

Maria W. Stewart was born 1803 in Connecticut to her free parents. At the age of five she was orphaned and later raised by a religious white family. Her articles and speeches were published in the Liberator newspaper. She was a friend of David Walker and a great admirer of his work and his work influenced her lectures. It has been rumored that her husband, James W. Stewart, who worked with Walker smuggled copies of David Walker's Appeal on ships leaving the Boston's harbor. Her husband was the only African listed as a professional ship outfitter at that time in Boston. Both James Stewart and David Walker were active in the Massachusetts General Coloured Association. Maria W. Stewart was quite involved with the First African Church of Boston.

For more information on Maria W. Stewart and David Walker or other advocates of Woman's Sufferage and Abolitionists the Library of Congress and The New York Public Library contain a wealth of information. Within the New York Public Library site are links to the Schomburg Center that a host written documents and pictures are available via digital imagary. Other sources of information are the Moorlan-Spinar Researh Center at Howard University.

Other References

David Walker's Appeal,

David Walker, Words of Fire

Born in 1815, Elizabeth Cady Stanton devoted her life to equality for women, of all races. While her first priority was women's suffrage, she later incorporated herself into the anti-slavery movement.
To view Stanton's address to the National American Woman Suffrage Association, click here.

Stanton founded and organized the first women's rights convention at Seneca Falls in 1848. Fifteen years later, she formed the National Woman's Loyal League with Susan B. Anthony. During this same year, they both became more involved with the emancipation movement after the proposal of the thirteenth amendment.

Stanton likened the mental cruelty and oppression of slaves to that of subordinate white women of the era. She addressed the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1860. Her desire was to point out the similarities between the two movements and the need for them to coincide. However, her proposal failed and she formed the American Equal Rights Association in 1866 with Susan B. Anthony.

Susan B. Anthony worked closely with Elizabeth Cady Stanton for half a century. While Stanton handled the publicity and writing, Anthony supplied the ideas and kept up with the business aspects of their successful partnership. Together with Matilda J. Gage, they wrote a three volume series chronicling the History of Woman Suffrage in 1876.

In 1854, three years after she met Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Anthony embarked on a lecture tour with another reknowned feminist, Ernestine Rose. Anthony kept a diary of her experience. It details her evolution as she begins to understand the need for women's suffrage as well as emancipation. It was her first direct encounter with slavery and she felt it not only ruined blacks, but the white slavemasters as well.

...I have had Pro Slavery People tell me just go South once, and see Slavery as it is, and then you will talk very differently. I can assume all such, that contact with Slavery has not a tendency to make me hate it less. No, the ruinous effect of the institution upon the white man alone causes me to hate it (DuBois 72-3).

Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony pioneered the women's suffrage movement. Their desire for women's equality served to enhance their understanding of the necessity of emancipation. They knew that women could not be equal until all citizens, regardless of race, were also allowed basic human rights.

Messner:New York, 1947.

Buechler, Steven M. Women's Movements in the United States: Women's Suffrage, Equal Rights, and Beyond

Rutgers:London, 1990.

DuBois, Ellen Carol. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony: Correspondence, Writings, Speeches

Schocken:New York, 1981

Nannie Helen Burroughs and Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass was born into slavery in Eastern Shore, Maryland in 1818, and was name Fredrick Augustus Washington Bailey. Frederick Douglass was one of the primary leaders of the abolitionist movement, which fought to end slavery within the United States in the decades prior to the Civil War.

A profound speaker, Douglass was asked by the American Anti-Slavery Society to engage in a tour of lectures, and so became recognized as one of America's first great black speakers. He won world fame when his autobiography was publicized in 1845. Douglass was an early supported of women's rights, arguing, together with the leaders of the feminist movement, that issues of equality applied equally to women and blacks. Douglass also supported Elizabeth Cady Stanton for the fight for women's suffrage. He was present at "The Seneca Falls Declaration and Resolutions", which was the first major feminist convention. Douglass served as an adviser to President Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War and fought for the adoption of constitutional amendments that guaranteed voting rights and other civil liberties for blacks. Douglass provided a powerful voice for human rights during this period of American history and is still highly valued today for his contributions against racial injustice.

Distinguished for his articulation, he lectured throughout the US and England on the brutality and immorality of slavery. As a publisher of the North Star and Frederick Douglass's Paper brought news of the anti-slavery movement to thousands. Forced to leave the country to avoid arrest after John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry, he returned to become a substantial advocate of the Union cause. He helped recruit African American troops for the Union Army, and his personal relationship with Lincoln helped persuade the President to make Emancipation a cause of the Civil War.

I do not know but the United States would rot in this tyranny if there were not some Negroes in this land--some to clink their chaines in the ear of listening humanity, and from whose prostrate forms the lessons of liberty can be taught to the whites. It is through us now that you are learning that your own rights are stricken down. (Speech at the Anti-Slavery Association 1848)

In 1872, Douglass moved to Washington, DC where he initially served as publisher of the New National Period, which carries forward the work of elevating the position of African Americans in the post-Emancipation period. During the same period Douglass also served as the Freedmen's National Bank, and subsequently in various national service positions, including US Marshal for the District of Columbia, and diplomatic positions in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Frederick Douglass died in 1895 leaving his second wife behind and his children which were born by his first wife. His house is still located at 1411 W Street, SE Washington, DC 20020. Please visit the site to learn more about this National Historic Site.

Check out these website(s) and book(s) to learn more about Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass NHS Homepage

"A Plea for Speech in Boston"

Photo Gallery

"What to the Slave is the Fourth of July"

"My Escape From Slavery"

Nannie Helen Burroughs

Nannie Helen Burroughs was born in Orange, Virginia on May 2, 1879. Miss Burroughs worked as a bookkeeper and editorial secretary of the Foreign Mission Board of the National Baptist Convention. In Louisville she organized a women's industrial club which conducted domestic science and secretarial course. Nannie Helen Burroughs was one of the founders of the Women's Convention, auxiliary to the National Baptist Convention U.S.A. Inc. On October 19 1909, the National Training School for Women and Girls open at 50th and Grant Street, NE, Washington D.C. with Nannie Helen Burroughs as the first president. Within twenty - five years of the school opening she had enrolled more then 2,000 women, which had trained at the high school and junior college level. Girls came from all over the Untied States, Africa and the Caribbean attended her school. Her school curriculum was the 3 B's the Bible, bath, and broom , which were her tools of racial advancement. In 1934 the school was renamed the National Trade and Professional School for Women. The school operated until the death of Nannie Helen Burroughs in 1961. In 1964 the board of trustees abandoned the old tradeschool curriculum and reestablished it as the Nannie Helen Burroughs School for students of elementary school age.

Her understanding for the Negro working women was express thorough her participation in the club movement among colored women during the early decades of the twentieth century. Nannie Helen Burroughs was active in organizations that pursued in the interest in racial pride. She was also a supporter of the religious and secular programs. Her writings reflect both strong religious convictions and the belief in racial self -help and self-reliance. She started an editorial called "From A Women's point of view", which gave more insight on her opinion about Negroes equality. She denounced segregation and also such concepts as individualism and race delivers.

"A man who is lazy in Egypt will be lazy in Canaan; geography is not the determining factor. It is not WHERE you are but WHO you are that counts most. ("From a Women's Point of View" article)

Biographical Notes

1879, May 2 Born, Orange, VA.

1883 Came to Washington, DC

1896 Graduated, M Street High School, Washington, DC

1897? Associate editor, Christian Banner, Philadelphia

1898 - 1908 Bookkeeper and stenographer, Foreign Mission Board, National Baptist Convention

1900 Spoke at organizing meeting of the Women's Convention Auxiliary to the National Baptist Convention

1900 - 7 Corresponding secretary, Women's Convention Auxiliary to the National Baptist Convention

1902 Took course in business college

1905 Attended organizing conference of Baptist World Alliance

1909 Secretary, Douglass Improvement Co.

1909 - 61 Founder and president of the National Training School for Women and Girls, renamed the National Trade and Professional School for Women and Girls

1934 - 61 Editor, 2d edition of The Worker, published by the National Trade and Professional School for the Women's Convention

1948 - 61 President, Women's Convention Auxiliary to the National Baptist Convention

1950 - 60 Member-at-large, Executive Committee, Baptist World Alliance

1961, May 20 Died, Washington, D.C

Check out these website(s) and book(s) to learn more about Nannie Helen Burroughs

Nannie Helen Burroughs's Papers located in the Library of Congress

"How Nannie Helen Burroughs" 17th Ed. Located in the Library of Congress.

Reference

Burroughs, Nannie Helen. "Nannie Helen Burroughs's Paper". Located at the Library of Congress.

Dolbeare, Kenneth M. "American Political Thought". New Jersey. Chatham House Publishers, 1996

Douglass, Frederick. "Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass: An American Slave". New York. St. Bradford Books, 1993