Within Benjamin Banneker’s letter to Thomas Jefferson, he employs pathos in order to persuade Jefferson to use his political platform to end the injustices of slavery. Through this, Banneker is pointing out the hypocrisy of Jefferson’s actions by comparing the situation of slaves to the oppression the colonists faced under tyrannical British rule. He employs pathos with the use of diction and allusions. His poignant and critical diction reflects his caustic attitude of Thomas Jefferson. Banneker alludes to the Declaration of Independence to appeal to Jefferson’s ideas of inalienable rights for all men protected through liberty from British power. Banneker directly points this out when he says, “but sir, how pitiable it is to reflect that although