One of the most "threatening" men in American history - Keenan Norris episode artwork

EPISODE · Jun 19, 2026 · 7 MIN

One of the most "threatening" men in American history - Keenan Norris

from TED-Ed · host TED-Ed

Get to know the story of David Walker, an abolitionist whose antislavery pamphlet made him an enemy of the US government.--In 1830, David Walker sewed a pamphlet into the lining of a coat. The volume was thin enough to be hidden, but its content was far from insubstantial. At the time, many members of the US government considered this pamphlet to be one of the most dangerous documents in American history. But what was this incendiary document? And who exactly was the man who wrote it? Keenan Norris investigates.Lesson by Keenan Norris, directed by Tomás Pichardo-Espaillat.Support Our Non-Profit Mission----------------------------------------------Support us on Patreon: http://bit.ly/TEDEdPatreonCheck out our merch: http://bit.ly/TEDEDShop----------------------------------------------Connect With Us----------------------------------------------Sign up for our newsletter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletterFollow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/TEDEdFacebookFind us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdTwitterPeep us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/TEDEdInstagram----------------------------------------------Keep Learning----------------------------------------------View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/one-of-the-most-dangerous-men-in-american-history-keenan-norrisDig deeper with additional resources: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/one-of-the-most-dangerous-men-in-american-history-keenan-norris#digdeeperAnimator's website: http://www.tomatico.netMusic: https://www.workplaywork.com----------------------------------------------Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Barbara Smalley, Megan Douglas, Tim Leistikow, Ka-Hei Law, Hiroshi Uchiyama, Mark Morris, Misaki Sato, EdoKun, SookKwan Loong, Bev Millar, Lex Azevedo, Michael Aquilina, Jason A Saslow, Yansong Li, Cristóbal Moenne, Dawn Jordan, Prasanth Mathialagan, Samuel Doerle, David Rosario, Dominik Kugelmann - they-them, Siamak Hajizadeh, Ryohky Araya, Mayank Kaul, Christophe Dessalles, Heather Slater, Sandra Tersluisen, Zhexi Shan, Bárbara Nazaré, Andrea Feliz, Victor E Karhel, Sydney Evans, Latora, Noel Situ, emily lam, Sid, Niccolò Frassetto, Mana, I'm here because of Knowledge Fight Facebook group., Linda Freedman, Edgardo Cuellar, Jaspar Carmichael-Jack, Michael Burton, VIVIANA A GARCIA BESNE, The Vernon's, Olha Bahatiuk, Jesús Bíquez Talayero, Chels Raknrl, Sai Pranavi Jonnalagadda, Stuart Rice and Jing Chen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Get to know the story of David Walker, an abolitionist whose antislavery pamphlet made him an enemy of the US government.--In 1830, David Walker sewed a pamphlet into the lining of a coat. The volume was thin enough to be hidden, but its content was far from insubstantial. At the time, many members of the US government considered this pamphlet to be one of the most dangerous documents in American history. But what was this incendiary document? And who exactly was the man who wrote it? Keenan Norris investigates.Lesson by Keenan Norris, directed by Tomás Pichardo-Espaillat.Support Our Non-Profit Mission----------------------------------------------Support us on Patreon: http://bit.ly/TEDEdPatreonCheck out our merch: http://bit.ly/TEDEDShop----------------------------------------------Connect With Us----------------------------------------------Sign up for our newsletter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletterFollow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/TEDEdFacebookFind us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdTwitterPeep us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/TEDEdInstagram----------------------------------------------Keep Learning----------------------------------------------View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/one-of-the-most-dangerous-men-in-american-history-keenan-norrisDig deeper with additional resources: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/one-of-the-most-dangerous-men-in-american-history-keenan-norris#digdeeperAnimator's website: http://www.tomatico.netMusic: https://www.workplaywork.com----------------------------------------------Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Barbara Smalley, Megan Douglas, Tim Leistikow, Ka-Hei Law, Hiroshi Uchiyama, Mark Morris, Misaki Sato, EdoKun, SookKwan Loong, Bev Millar, Lex Azevedo, Michael Aquilina, Jason A Saslow, Yansong Li, Cristóbal Moenne, Dawn Jordan, Prasanth Mathialagan, Samuel Doerle, David Rosario, Dominik Kugelmann - they-them, Siamak Hajizadeh, Ryohky Araya, Mayank Kaul, Christophe Dessalles, Heather Slater, Sandra Tersluisen, Zhexi Shan, Bárbara Nazaré, Andrea Feliz, Victor E Karhel, Sydney Evans, Latora, Noel Situ, emily lam, Sid, Niccolò Frassetto, Mana, I'm here because of Knowledge Fight Facebook group., Linda Freedman, Edgardo Cuellar, Jaspar Carmichael-Jack, Michael Burton, VIVIANA A GARCIA BESNE, The Vernon's, Olha Bahatiuk, Jesús Bíquez Talayero, Chels Raknrl, Sai Pranavi Jonnalagadda, Stuart Rice and Jing Chen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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One of the most "threatening" men in American history - Keenan Norris

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Get to know the story of David Walker, an abolitionist whose antislavery pamphlet made him an enemy of the US government.--In 1830, David Walker sewed a pamphlet into the lining of a coat. The volume was thin enough to be hidden, but its content was...

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