--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Let no man of us budge one step, and let…" description: "\"Let no man of us budge one step, and let slaveholders come to beat us from our country. America is more our country, than it is the whites-we have enri..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b5/david-walker-24529_america_let-no-man-of-us-budge-one-step-and-let_955213.png" --- # Let no man of us budge one step, and let slaveholders come… ![“Let no man of us budge one step, and let slaveholders come to beat us from our country. America is more our country, than it is the whites-we have enriched it with our blood and tears. The greatest riches in all America have arisen from our blood and tears.” quote by David Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b5/david-walker-24529_america_let-no-man-of-us-budge-one-step-and-let_955213.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b5/david-walker-24529_america_let-no-man-of-us-budge-one-step-and-let_955213.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b5/david-walker-24529_america_let-no-man-of-us-budge-one-step-and-let_955213.png) > “Let no man of us budge one step, and let slaveholders come to beat us from our country. America is more our country, than it is the whites-we have enriched it with our blood and tears. The greatest riches in all America have arisen from our blood and tears.” [David Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-walker/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He urges resistance against oppression, urging African Americans to defend their rights despite threats from slaveholders. **In simple terms:** Calls for defiance against oppression and defense of rights. Key Takeaway Stand firm against oppression. Themes freedom justice resistance Mood determined defiant Type political historical When to use this quote - activism - community organizing - civil rights movements Key Concepts civil rights racial oppression self-determination Questions to Reflect On - What risks do activists face? - How can solidarity be built? A Different Perspective Resistance may provoke violent backlash. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [America](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/america/) [America Arisen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/america-arisen-1729160/) [Beats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beats/) [Blood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blood/) [Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/country/) [Diversity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/diversity/) [Justice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/justice/) [Let Slaveholders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/let-slaveholders-1729158/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Our country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/our-country/) [Riches](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/riches/) [Slaveholders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slaveholders/) [Slaveholders Come](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slaveholders-come-1729159/) [Social justice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social-justice/) [Steps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/steps/) [Tears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tears/) ## Related quotes > [We still have a great amount of work to do in social development, including resolving one of the biggest challenges we face in this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-putin/we-still-have-a-great-amount-of-work-to-do-in-social-development/) [Vladimir Putin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-putin/) > [I assert most unhesitatingly, that the religion of the South is a mere covering for the most horrid crimes—a justifier of the most appalling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-assert-most-unhesitatingly-that-the-religion-of-the-south-is-a-mere-2/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [“no one has ever gone from slavery to freedom with the slaveholders cheering them on,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-h-friedman-2/no-one-has-ever-gone-from-slavery-to-freedom-with-the-slaveholders/) [Edwin H Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-h-friedman-2/) > [Our moneyed men have ruled us for the past thirty years. Under the flag of the slaveholder they hoped to destroy our liberty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-kearney/our-moneyed-men-have-ruled-us-for-the-past-thirty-years-under-the/) [Denis Kearney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-kearney/) > [Hot weather brings out snakes and slaveholders, and I like one class of the venomous creatures as little as I do the other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-ann-jacobs/hot-weather-brings-out-snakes-and-slaveholders-and-i-like-one-class/) [Harriet Ann Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-ann-jacobs/) > [The men and women of the North are slaveholders, those of the South slaveowners. The guilt rests on the North equally with the South.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-b-anthony/the-men-and-women-of-the-north-are-slaveholders-those-of-the-south/) [Susan B. Anthony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-b-anthony/) > [“Occasionally, however, when chided by their slaves or others, slaveholders did act in concert with the better selves of their paternalist rhetoric. William Green's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-johnson/occasionally-however-when-chided-by-their-slaves-or-others/) [Walter Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-johnson/) > [Faith means making a virtue out of not thinking. It's nothing to brag about; and those who preach faith and enable and elevate it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/faith-means-making-a-virtue-out-of-not-thinking-it-s-nothing-to-brag/) [Bill Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-maher/) > [The idea that the country should be led by white men goes back to antebellum slaveholders, who argued that the world was naturally divided…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-cox-richardson/the-idea-that-the-country-should-be-led-by-white-men-goes-back-to/) [Heather Cox Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-cox-richardson/) > [Slaveholders deployed so-called scientific racism to justify racial slavery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manisha-sinha/slaveholders-deployed-so-called-scientific-racism-to-justify-racial/) [Manisha Sinha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manisha-sinha/) > [It, sometimes, suits the slaveholders to claim, that their slavery is an exclusively State concern; and that the North has, therefore, nothing to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerrit-smith/it-sometimes-suits-the-slaveholders-to-claim-that-their-slavery-is-an/) [Gerrit Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerrit-smith/) > [“This will be seen by the fact, that the slaveholders like to have their slaves spend those days just in such a manner as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/this-will-be-seen-by-the-fact-that-the-slaveholders-like-to-have/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [“It was a grand opportunity for the low whites, who had no negroes of their own to scourge. They exulted in such a chance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-ann-jacobs/it-was-a-grand-opportunity-for-the-low-whites-who-had-no-negroes-of/) [Harriet Ann Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-ann-jacobs/) > [Men like Abraham Lincoln recognized that if the slaveholders were not stopped, it would only be a question of time until they spread their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-cox-richardson/men-like-abraham-lincoln-recognized-that-if-the-slaveholders-were-not/) [Heather Cox Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-cox-richardson/) > [I link dar's many a slaveholder'll git to Heaven. Dey don't know no better. Dey acts up to de light dey hab.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-tubman/i-link-dar-s-many-a-slaveholder-ll-git-to-heaven-dey-don-t-know-no/) [Harriet Tubman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-tubman/) ## More by David Walker > [The Americans say that we are ungrateful-but I ask them for heaven's sake, what should we be grateful to them for-for murdering our fathers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-walker/the-americans-say-that-we-are-ungrateful-but-i-ask-them-for-heaven-s/) [David Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-walker/) > [Lord, please give me big ears and a thoughtful mind. 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As I say, to me, it's completely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-walker/well-it-was-just-the-bars-was-all-just-like-the-bamboo-roofs-and/) [David Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-walker/) > [Church should be a place where love is evident, God delivers, lives are changed, hearts are healed, and families restored.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-walker/church-should-be-a-place-where-love-is-evident-god-delivers-lives-are/) [David Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-walker/) > [Allowing God to charge our lives that we may empower people around us to live In a greater relationship with him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-walker/allowing-god-to-charge-our-lives-that-we-may-empower-people-around-us/) [David Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-walker/) > [It certainly makes sense to expand the pulp industry in Indonesia, .. It's clear that it will be a very competitive exporter of pulp…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-walker/it-certainly-makes-sense-to-expand-the-pulp-industry-in-indonesia-it/) [David Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-walker/) > [Just five years ago, it was almost impossible to waste a million dollars building a Web site.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-walker/just-five-years-ago-it-was-almost-impossible-to-waste-a-million/) [David Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-walker/) > [Karate is for life, not points.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-walker/karate-is-for-life-not-points/) [David Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-walker/) > [I may be doomed to the stake and the fire, or to the scaffold tree, but it is not in me to falter if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-walker/i-may-be-doomed-to-the-stake-and-the-fire-or-to-the-scaffold-tree-but/) [David Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-walker/) > [In contrast, the 'Old Europe' channels were showing film from reporters who had embedded themselves at the wrong end of the Baghdad blitz and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-walker/in-contrast-the-old-europe-channels-were-showing-film-from-reporters/) [David Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-walker/) > [Now, I ask you, had you not rather be killed than to be a slave to a tyrant, who takes the life of your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-walker/now-i-ask-you-had-you-not-rather-be-killed-than-to-be-a-slave-to-a/) [David Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-walker/) [Explore all 24 David Walker quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-walker/) ## More America quotes > [The costs of the Bush-Obama wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now estimated to run as high as $4.4 trillion - a major victory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-costs-of-the-bush-obama-wars-in-iraq-and-afghanistan-are-now/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [Well, The Day the Earth Caught Fire was a story... I don't if anybody knows what it is but it was about... in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/val-guest/well-the-day-the-earth-caught-fire-was-a-story-i-don-t-if-anybody/) [Val Guest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/val-guest/) > [So here's what I want you to know, and here's what I want all our men and women in uniform to know: Because of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/so-here-s-what-i-want-you-to-know-and-here-s-what-i-want-all-our-men/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [Today, the world looks to America for leadership. And America looks to its Corps of Marines.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/today-the-world-looks-to-america-for-leadership-and-america-looks-to/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [The image of blacks usually is one of people who are suffering from hunger, unemployment, and poverty. The idea of them as agents and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-lee-boggs/the-image-of-blacks-usually-is-one-of-people-who-are-suffering-from/) [Grace Lee Boggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-lee-boggs/) > [ I'll smoke, I'll cough, I'll get the tumors, I'll die, deal? 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