Walking The Liberal Walk

This was the final paper for my Modern Political Thought class at Portland State University in Spring 2018.

Liberalism in the 19th century was in a stage of flux philosophically. The foundations of Liberalism set down by John Locke in the late 1600’s had been molded and changed by the realities of new thinkers, especially in the United States. By the 1800’s voices like John S. Mill and David Walker were changing the face of Liberalism. While Mill drops the idea of the Social Contract and the State of Nature, he argues for extending the promises of Liberalism to women. Walker argued for extending the promises of Liberalism to the freed and enslaved black Americans. While Walker makes many critiques of some Liberal philosophers, his arguments are in fact those of a Liberal wishing to see the universalism of Liberalism extended to a particular class of people.

In his work An Appeal, Walker makes his case for the immediate emancipation of all slaves in the United States. He draws on historical examples of slavery across Europe and compares this slavery to the institution of slavery in the United States. Walker supplements his arguments with verses from the Bible to show that the slavery bone by the Jews in Egypt was nowhere near as horrendous as that borne by the black slaves of the United States, and the Jews fled Egypt. These Biblical verses greatly support his argumentation as one of the leading arguments for extending slavery was through Biblical verses (ushistory.org).

Walker’s greatest focus of critique is of President Jefferson whom Walker finds to be a hypocrite. Jefferson stated a black person’s skin color was “unfortunate” (Walker, p14) and this somehow undermines the need for gaining the natural rights Jefferson speaks so highly of. Walker also argues the natural rights Mill and other Liberal philosophers argue in favor of are secondary to Christian beliefs. Walker wishes more blacks could refute the arguments of Jefferson, but because they have been denied the education allowing them to make such arguments, and thus understand their natural rights, he must make the arguments.

Walker calls forth Jefferson’s comparison of Roman slavery stating some of the greatest philosophers and artists of Rome were slaves. This is not the case in American slavery according to Walker. There are no highly educated slaves and it is somehow the African’s nature that makes them servile. Walker rightly states this is a contradiction between Jefferson’s line in the Declaration of Independence “all men are created equal.” Walker counters Jefferson further in stating there were no laws in Rome governing the libertari in hindering them from rising in the social order; whereas in the United States there are many laws preventing slaves from freeing themselves through legal means or once freed from being equal to whites in the same way (Walker, p19).

One of the central tenets of Liberalism is the individual must have a base level of education in order to comprehend his or her individual rights and why they exist. In Article Two of An Appeal, Walker argues black slaves have been intentionally left uneducated so they have no ability to understand their natural rights promised to them in Liberal theory. Walker makes an interesting argument at the beginning of Article Two, stating if the enlightened Christians had just taught the Africans Christianity and left them alone, they would be in a much better place. The fascinating piece here is Mill would equate that level of religious servitude to be a different kind of slavery, the enslavement of the mind. Mill equates religion to “passive obedience” calling it “submission to all authorities found established” (Mill, p49). These two positions on religion being a liberator denote the differences between American and European Liberalism at the time.

Walker’s Protestant argumentation is congruent with the Second Great Awakening that was happening at the time he was writing, culminating in a massive burst of Protestant religiosity. This argument of Walker’s however does not undermine the fact that he is arguing for Liberal natural rights to be extended to black Americans, he just thinks they are less important than (specifically) Protestant Christianity. He in fact uses his Protestant interpretation of the Bible to cement his arguments of liberty for black Americans.

Walker argues against the inherent difference between the races of men. Walker quotes Jefferson as discussing keeping the races distinct as nature had made them; Walker argues this is the greatest barrier to emancipation (Walker p. 31). This argument is in line with the Liberal principle of a pluralistic society. Where all people and ideas are able to blend equally so long as there are no threats of violence. Walker states further that the current state of society makes black Americans submissive to white Americans which allows Jefferson to make the arguments he does about the differences between black and white Americans.

Walker quotes Jefferson as asking what can be done with black Africans in the United States, to which Walker responds to emancipate them (Walker, p32). The emancipation calls by Walker are absolutely a Liberal principal as Liberalism calls for all people to be treated equally before the law without respect to identifying features. Walker rightly calls out the hypocrisy of the lofty principles outlined in Liberalism, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution. Walker simply wants these principles to be evenly applied to all citizens of the United States.

Walker states that black Americans should either contradict or confirm Jefferson’s assertions on the nature of African people (Walker, p.32). Walker calls on black Americans to contradict those assertions to prove they are not the brutes those who think like Jefferson on the races. By contradicting Jefferson’s assertions on the races, this continues to support the Liberal principle of all humans being roughly the same. If black Americans were able to show they were no different than any other type of Americans, it would begin to tear down the support for the institution of slavery as the black Americans would become humanized.

Walker knows education and enlightenment were the keys to this humanization of the black Americans. Walker calls on his readers to “work and enlighten your brethren!” (Walker, p.33). Locke argued an educated population was necessary for Liberalism to have a successful society. Education is required so the individuals of a population can critically examine policies and politicians and truly understand what their rights are. While Walker wanted to spread Protestant Christianity as part of that enlightenment, that would also lead to the humanization of black Americans in the American society going through the Second Great Awakening.

Walker furthers his argument of education asking “Do you suppose a man of good sense and learning would submit himself…to be slaves to a wretched man like himself?” (Walker, p.37). This argument is stating education is the road to emancipation and liberation for the black Americans. An educated person would never submit to slavery, and the argument being an educated person would not enslave and devalue another educated and enlightened person. An educated and enlightened population leads to a Liberal society which creates the strongest, wealthiest societies on earth. The more states come to align with Liberal principles, the wealthier, and stronger those societies are.

Ultimately Walker’s arguments are Liberal arguments. Walker wants the promises of Liberal principles to be applied as they were written, to all people. Walker wants black Americans to be equally educated as white Americans which would create an equal and enlightened society. Walker’s arguments against slavery and the dehumanization of black Americans are Liberal arguments because Liberalism calls for the equalizing of the population before the law, which is the exact opposite of the United States at the time. While Walker and other Liberal thinkers have quite a lot in common, Walker’s use of religion to drive his arguments is very different from other Liberal thinkers. Walker believes Protestant Christianity and education is the way to enlighten the mind for an equal society. While this is uncommon among European Liberal thinkers, American Liberals were more sympathetic to using religious arguments to push a Liberal society. This comes from the source of the American populous being more religious than that of Europeans, as well as less religious conflict. While Walker argues about classes, it is because there was a class of people who were not getting the promises of Liberalism, similar to how Mill argued the class of women were not getting the promises of Liberalism.