Who Is Benjamin Banneker Letter To Thomas Jefferson

In the year 1791 Benjamin Banneker had already made a name for himself in the newly established country of America. He was a very educated man (i.e. was a farmer, astronomer, mathematician, surveyor, and author) for only being a first generation free man. His was filled to the brim with passion on the matters of slavery and wasn’t afraid to take his stand on the issue. He saw no problem in directly addressing the man who wrote the start to our country. In his letter to Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Banneker offers a series of arguments against the institution of slavery. Being the educated man that he is, Banneker had no problem portraying his argument through pure logic in order to invoke guilt on Jefferson for the way he has been treating

To a time in the young country’s history that was so bad that not even “hope and fortitude” could make matters better. Banneker wanted him to realize that they had just successfully completed the first colonial uprising in history, laid their lives on the line in order to benefit people they have never met before, saw the blood shed of loved ones, watched families be destroyed, in order to achieve the “freedom and tranquility” that is a “percular blessing of Heaven” only to deny that freedom to the black part of the population. Even though Jefferson “clearly saw…the injustice…of slavery” and that his “abhorrence” was so strong that he believed it was “worthy to be recorded” in a document that would be “remembered in all succeeding ages;” yet he still saw it fit to continue this practice of enslavement. Banneker went on to actually quote the Declaration of Independence and

The inhabitants of early America did everything based upon their faith. They were taught how to read using Bible stories like Job, who Banneker used to compare his “brethren.” He even told Jefferson that the “freedom” they had just “mercifully received” was a “blessing of Heaven.” He wanted it to be made known that enslaving human beings for the sole purpose of labor was by no means godly and Thomas Jefferson was in a sense disobeying God by participating in the