Summary Of All Men Are Created Equal By Benjamin Banneker

“All Men Are Created Equal” Benjamin Banneker is an African American mathematician, inventor, writer, and social critic writing a letter to Thomas Jefferson in 1776. Banneker also happens to be the son of a former slave. Banneker disapproves of the way Jefferson advocates abolition, while owning slaves, and writing that “all men are created equal”, yet also writing that African Americans are an inferior race. His main reason for writing the letter is getting his point on advocating for the abolition of slavery across and Banneker does this using ethos in a variety of ways. Banneker shows a number of specific character traits that help his ethos. One of the first character traits that you notice in the letter is the Banneker is very respectful

This bolds well for his ethos because the more knowledgeable you seem about a subject, the more likely your audience will take you seriously and listen to or read what you have to say. Banneker’s word choice plays a big part in this because it shows that he is well-read. Banneker shows off exactly how well-read he is by quoting the Declaration of Independence and the Bible. Banneker then uses his education to discredit Jefferson at different times throughout the letter. Banneker effectively uses Jefferson’s religion and own words against him in order to discredit him. Banneker uses the fact that Jefferson is religious to create doubt of Jefferson’s ethos by stating that no good Christian man would sit idly by while these gross injustices are going on. This really discredits Jefferson by insinuating that he could have shaky morals. Banneker also touches on the fact that Jefferson contradicts himself in his writings. In the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson sharply condemns slavery even though he owns slaves himself, but in his Notes on the State of Virginia, he shows discrimination towards African Americans (Carroll, 83). Banneker also uses the Fact that Jefferson is a privileged white American of power against him as well, by writing that Jefferson would know more about the plight of African Americans than Banneker would. Banneker at the end of the letter refers to Jefferson as “sire,” (Carroll, 87), which Banneker uses to refer back to the notion that African Americans are an inferior