Benjamin Banneker in his letter to Thomas Jefferson pitches a series of arguments against the institution of slavery through a series of rhetorical devices. Banneker’s respectful tone shows his maturity and sincerity for the subject at hand. Banneker manipulated Jefferson’s own words against him. In the Declaration, Jefferson stipulated that “all men are created equal” which Banneker then turned against him by hinting that slaves were not given the same freedoms that white men had. While Banneker attempted to degrade Jefferson, he remained respectful throughout the letter.
Initially, Banneker referred to Jefferson as “sir.” Throughout his letter, he repeated “sir” as a sign of respect; but this repetition also hinted back at the black’s place in society because he was the “son of former slaves.” From there Banneker got right to the point, being that slavery is unfair and Jefferson was a hypocrite. Banneker attempted to compare his situation with Jefferson’s, but because his parents were slaves and Jefferson owned slaves their situations were hardly
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Banneker pointed out how “pitiable” Jefferson was being that he was fully convinced of the “benevolence of the Father.” Yet he was okay with the “impartial distribution of rights.” The message that Banneker was trying to get across was that if Jefferson believed that God gave out his rights, he should not have been enslaving the blacks. Banneker also made a reference to the “narrow prejudices” that Britain left on the colonist. If Jefferson did want the colonies to prosper, then he (i.e. the new government) should have given the blacks the freedom they wanted, instead of acting as King George to the new country. Banneker refered to a line from the Bible that stated, “put your souls in their souls stead.” Banneker knew that if Jefferson put himself in his shoes or the shoes of a slave that he would have realized how wrong it