Summary Of Benjamin Banneker Letter

The United States, a nation founded on the beliefs of equality, upholds an inhumane enslavement of African Americans that opposes its values. In 1791, Benjamin Banneker, a free African American, sends a letter to Thomas Jefferson urging him to reconsider his stance on slavery. In an excerpt from his letter to Thomas Jefferson, Banneker’s personal criticisms of slavery are presented through the use of varied diction, knowledgeable allusions, and impelling appeals illuminating the hypocrisy of the United States’ institution of slavery and their foundations of equality.

Banneker begins his letter (Lines 1-30) entreating Jefferson to reflect on the hardships he faced to achieve liberty. Banneker starts with “sir” and continually refers to Jefferson

He reveals that Jefferson’s myopic ideas of freedoms should extend to peoples of all ethnicities. Banneker alludes to the American Revolution and encourages Jefferson to reflect on the time of his oppression by the “tyranny of the British Crown” and reduced to a “State of Servitude.” He compares the Crown to a master and the colonies to slaves; thus, allowing for more comparisons equating the colonies to slaves. Banneker parallels this struggle to the challenges slaves face on their path to freedom to Jefferson’s personal experiences in the revolution to overcome the control of the British government. The United States’ newfound liberty is extended to Americans as a “blessing of Heaven” and implies that with the help of God’s

Banneker’s manipulation of “sir,” although still polite, exudes a more critical and confrontational disposition as he decries Jefferson’s stance on slavery. Banneker’s references to his “brethren” substantiate the struggles that all African Americas work together to overcome and his attachment to their obstacles. Banneker emphasizes the thought with the phrases “groaning captivity” and “cruel oppression” to insinuate the horrors endured by slaves and place blame on Jefferson for his immoral practice. Banneker extends another invitation to Jefferson to end slavery by treating slaves with “kindness and benevolence.” Banneker wishes for Jefferson to proceed with justice and open his heart to see the errors of slavery. He states that Jefferson acknowledges the “benevolence of the Father” to impose his equal rights on all, and yet the latter disregards this by practicing slavery. In this allusion to God, Banneker associates Jefferson with himself regarding their belief in one God and mutual faith. . Banneker, through the use of another biblical allusion, parallels the hardships and suffering of Job, an innocent in the same position as enslaved Africans, faces as he overcomes his struggles. Banneker urges Jefferson to put himself in the perspective of slaves and liken they oppression with the subjugation of England. This further