David Walker's Appeal addresses the African Americans and the European Americans, challenging each group to take action. He acknowledges the "wretchedness" of blacks, which he believes is a result of slavery and the whites' fears of freeing enslaved blacks. He continuously challenges Thomas Jefferson's Notes on Virginia and uses direct quotes to analyze, criticize, and mock Jefferson's work to the utmost, proving that Jefferson contradicts himself numerous of times. Walker believes that oppression will one day be lifted from the shoulders of black men and that they will rise together as one. He stresses the wrongdoings of the whites and uses the Declaration of Independence to contradict them and also, stresses the importance of the blacks to take a stand against their oppressors. Walker's attitude shifts throughout the text, displaying courage, contempt, disregard, and resentment towards the whites, and bravery, conviction, weariness, and hopefulness towards the blacks. I think his direct and argumentative style works well with his readers, establishing him as a great leader and instigator of abolitionists. I believe that Walker's statements and observations about taking immediate action most effectively reached his white readers and caused great uneasiness and stress among them, while also providing further reassurance among his black readers.Walker believes without a doubt that blacks "are the most degraded, wretched, and abject set of beings that ever lived" as a result of slavery (194). Slavery stripped blacks of their identities, leaving them vulnerable in a land that was unknown to them. The cruel and unusual punishment that whites inflicted on blacks through slavery cannot be compared to any other enslavement nor can it be refuted. Through his Appeal and the help of the Almighty, Walker hopes to "open your hearts to understand and believe the truth" so that blacks can act to remedy their "wretchedness" and replace it ...
