Benjamin Banneker Essay Benjamin Banneker, a successful, educated son of former slaves and abolitionist, writes to Thomas Jefferson to persuade him to free the slaves. As a framer of the Declaration of Independence and the current Secretary of State, Jefferson could be the catalyst for change. Regardless of Banneker holding a lower societal status and no political authority, he still advocates the cause of abolition. Banneker’s tactful rhetoric challenges Jefferson to recognize his ideological hypocrisies and enact change. At the beginning of the excerpt, Banneker reminds Jefferson of his passionate devotion to the American Revolution. In hopes to evoke humility in Jefferson, Banneker recalls how Jefferson struggled for justice even when Britain exerted all its efforts to, “reduce [him] to a State of Servitude”. Because Jefferson personally overcame Britain’s deprivation of human rights, he can have empathy for slaves suffering a lack of the same freedoms. This significant comparison shows Jefferson how selfish he appeared by fighting for the freedom of America’s inhabitants and stopping once his rights were satisfied, neglecting other people who were entitled to those …show more content…
The Declaration of Independence, of which Jefferson is attributed as author, claims that “all men are created equal, and that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights”. Banneker’s assertion is bold because Jefferson’s denial of these words shakes the very foundation of a newly victorious country whose identity relies heavily upon this document. Furthermore, the unalienable rights of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” are claimed by Jefferson to be given from God. Yet slavery is a contradiction to this assertion and mocks God. Jefferson must recognize that the word “all“ is not inclusive, that a portion of the population is willingly and arbitrarily