In September 1829, David Walker, a free Black abolitionist living in Boston, published the pamphlet 'Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World,' which called for enslaved people to rise up violently against their oppressors. Walker, the son of an enslaved father, denounced American slavery and racism as a moral abomination and predicted that divine justice would punish the slaveholding nation. The pamphlet was smuggled into the South, where it terrified white authorities and led to bounty offers for Walker's capture. His uncompromising rhetoric made him a radical figure in the abolitionist movement and influenced later Black nationalist thought.

Walker's 'Appeal' is a seminal text in African American literature, combining biblical prophecy, political theory, and personal anguish into a powerful polemic. Its fiery language and calls for resistance anticipated the writings of Frederick Douglass, Henry Highland Garnet, and Martin Delany. The 'Appeal' has been studied as a precursor to Black liberation theology and continues to inspire poets and activists with its uncompromising demand for justice.