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American revolution impact on slavery
Analysis of Benjamin Banneker’s letter to Thomas Jefferson
Analysis of Benjamin Banneker’s letter to Thomas Jefferson
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Benjamin Banneker earnestly attempts to persuade Thomas Jefferson, former slave owner, the wrongness of slavery by using his sense of morality and reasoning against him. Banneker brings to light Jefferson’s views and to set the foundation to take his argument further. He refers to the Revolutionary War in line 2, "...arms and tyranny of the British Crown..." and explains the British Crown and indirectly refers to their ruling of the colonies. The word he most significantly used was ‘tyranny’ which sums up the rule of the British Crown in the colonists eyes. He uses the Revolutionary War and its impact on the colonies to further deepen the argument on his next point, without this clarification what he said next wouldn't have made any
His father was an enslaved West African from Guinea and his mother was the child of a female European indentured servant and an enslaved African who gained his freedom before she was born.” Mr. Banneker was a self- educated mathematician, astronomer, ran his family’s farm, and a writer among other things. He is mostly known for creating a wooden clock that ran every hour for over forty years, helping survey our nation’s capital, his widely read almanacs, and his letters to Thomas Jefferson. 4. For what audience was the document written?
Banneker sure does it in his letter. He starts out his letter with sir and then every single new paragraph at the beginning he uses sir. Why would he start out every paragraph with the same exact word? Banneker does it to show respect to Jefferson. He may be upset that the Declaration of Independence did not truly mention slaves as part of that all men have unalienable rights segment; however, he does realize that Jefferson is a man of high status and not giving him the politeness his status provokes would work against him.
Cinco de Mayo History of the Celebration Cinco de Mayo is the celebration of the Mexican Victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. The celebration occurs in the state of Puebla, Mexico where the Mexican victory happened. The first celebration took place in the mid-20th century among Mexican immigrants. Celebrations are designed to educate the youth about the historical significance of Cinco de Mayo and the Mexican culture. How the Holiday is Celebrated “In the town of Puebla, where the actual battle took place, there is a parade of marchers dressed as Mexican, and French generals with their cannons and rifles.
Benjamin Banneker uses many rhetorical strategies in his letter to Thomas Jefferson and George Washington to argue against slavery. Banneker employs repetition to create polite diction, ethos, logos, and an allusion to the Bible and passages from the Declaration of Independence to convey his ideas that slavery is at its roots against the idea that all men are created equal, opposing the ideas in the Declaration of Independence. Banneker uses repetition to keep a respectful tone throughout his letter. In repeating “sir” before each addition to his argument, Banneker has a formal and polite tone. This helps argue against slavery because he is not blaming the reader, but respectfully presenting the facts.
Banneker uses multiple rhetorical devices to argue against slavery and create a sense of guilt in Jefferson. Jefferson’s guilt trip starts by Banneker using logos in his first paragraph. He starts off by reminding Jefferson that, “the British Crown were exerted with every powerful effort in order to reduce you [Jefferson] to a state of servitude.” With this, Banneker establishes that Jefferson was one of the numerous colonists that felt the colonies should not be under British rule. Also, Banneker builds on to the fact that Jefferson was once a servant himself, consequently starting to guilt Jefferson, since Jefferson supports slavery despite once being a “servant” himself.
As Banneker addresses Thomas Jefferson, he compels him to realize the effect slavery had on slaves. He is concerned slaves are promised “inalienable rights” that are being stripped away from them. Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence and stated these rights diligently.
Benjamin Banneker, in his letter to Thomas Jefferson, offers a series of arguments against the institution of slavery through a respectful tone, references to history, and the Bible. As a son of former slaves, Banneker is seeking justice for the black population and uses Jefferson’s own words against him as he speaks on behalf of “Black America.” He shares his opinions with Jefferson, who is higher authority, in a respectful manner while still managing to criticize him. Banneker starts off his letter to Jefferson by calling his “Sir.” He refers to Jefferson this way because he wants to be respectful to this man who exists as a higher authority as a politician.
Slavery has sadly been in America from the start. Many have different opinions about slavery whether it should stay or be abandoned and forgotten. Although one person has written to Thomas Jefferson about one of history’s most important subject. Banneker starts it off by writing his strong views on how wrong slavery is not just listing all the problems, but in a letter that he uses strategies to make his view convincing. Benjamin Banneker uses rhetorical strategies such as ethos, logos, and various style elements to argue against slavery.
The tone overall tone of the letter is satirical. Throughout the letter, Banneker subtly reprimands Jefferson. For example, in the second paragraph of his essay, Banneker directly quotes Jefferson’s input to the Declaration of independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, and that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” By directly quoting Jefferson, Banneker essentially say it is ironic that Jefferson preaches equality, yet denies African Americans this “equality”. In a sense, Banneker is labeling Jefferson a hypocrite for not enforcing something he feels so strongly
The quote also appeals to Jefferson’s emotions because Banneker makes him feel guilty about slavery. Jefferson
Hypocrisy is one of the worst moral crimes someone can commit. Benjamin Banneker's letter to Thomas Jefferson explains that he has committed this crime. He has gone back on his morale of everyone having unalienable rights by letting slavery continue to happen, and Banneker believes he is the prime contender in allowing this crime to happen and that he should be the start and make the move to stop slavery. Banneker explains this to Jefferson in such a way that the letter is both respectful and thoughtful while also being rude due to the use of how he phrases his sentences, that his argument can not be questioned because of his use of ‘Sir’ to show his respect, and his ardent choice of words which are all collectively used to explain how Jefferson is being hypocritical and show him why he should fix this.
In Benjamin Banneker's letter to Thomas Jefferson, he develops his argument against slavery through historical allusions and emotional appeals in order to persuade Thomas Jefferson about the injustice of slavery. Firstly, Benjamin Banneker uses historical and biblical appeals to help convey his purpose of the injustice of slavery to Thomas Jefferson. Banneker makes an allusion to the invasion of the British colonies in America to offer a comparison to slavery. Banneker asks Jefferson to recall the time and reflect on that time “in which every human aid appeared unavailable”. In hopes he was able to involve guilt in Jefferson as while slavery was happening he enjoyed the “freedom and tranquility” that received a “peculiar bussing of Heaven”.
Benjamin Banneker, the son of former slaves, wrote a letter to Thomas Jefferson to argue against slavery. Banneker was an educated man, he was an astronomer, mathematician, surveyor, author, and farmer, yet, Jefferson had not known this information. Banneker makes his argument through the use of allusion, diction, and repetition, which causes Banneker to seem reliable and have intelligence. To remind Jefferson of his own subjugation, Banneker alludes to the British Crown. “..British Crown were exerted with every powerful effort in order to reduce you to a State of Servitude.”
In multiple letters and notes he wrote he expressed his guilt for the slaves and once the slaves paid off their debt and Jefferson’s he hoped to free them. Jefferson and his slaves remained in debt until the day he died. Jefferson believed that slavery not only deprived blacks of their liberty but had an “unhappy” influence on the masters and their children (Takaki 63). If a master is constantly punishing a slave and cannot restrain, the child’s master will imitate and master it, resulting in a nonstop cycle of slavery.
