To Awaken My Afflicted Brethren

To Awaken My Afflicted Brethren: David Walker And the Problem of Antebellum Slave Resistance is a detailed biography and historical analysis of David Walker. This volume 1 work examines the life of the free African American who authored the provocative 1829 pamphlet, An Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World. Peter Hinks explores how Walker used evangelical Christianity and republicanism to challenge white supremacy and encourage enslaved people to seek liberation.

This history book focuses on the complex dynamics of antislavery movements and slave insurrections in the United States. Through textual analysis, the author reconstructs Walker's early life in the Carolinas and his later activism in Boston. The text provides a scholarly look at the underground networks used to distribute abolitionist literature and the immense difficulties of organizing large-scale resistance against slavery in antebellum America.