Walker, David (1785–1830)

US merchant and abolitionist. Born a free black, in 1829 he issued Walker's Appeal, an antislavery pamphlet that urged slaves to rise up against their oppressors, and slaveholders to repent. It aroused fear among slaveholders in the South, causing it to be banned in some states, and a price was set on Walker's head. He died in 1830; many believed he was poisoned.

Walker was born in Wilmington, North Carolina. He travelled widely and became greatly concerned over the conditions of his fellow African Americans. He moved to Boston in 1827 where he established a second-hand clothing business.