Benjamin Banneker

A detailed Summary of Benjamin Banneker

Benjamin Banneker, a free, educated African American, was a man of letters, a man of science, and a man of convictions. It is therefore not surprising-at least in contemporary thought and practice-that such a man would write a letter to Thomas Jefferson who was, at the time, Secretary of State.

The date of the letter was August 19, 1791, and coincided with the completion of Banneker's annual almanac, at that time on its way to the printer for pre-1792 release. What is was specifically, however, that impelled Banneker to write at that moment can only be guessed at: that there was an external impetus, as well as Banneker's status as a free African American cognizant of the suffering of his people, can be inferred from the early part of his letter. Banneker writes:

I hope I may safely admit, in consequence of that report which hath reached me, that you are a man far less inflexible in sentiment of this nature, than many others; that you are measurably friendly, and well disposed towards us; and that you are willing and read to lend your aid and assistance to our relief, from those many distresses, and numerous calamities, to which we are reduced (Banneker 1791).

What has Banneker heard? Is it some evil action of another of

In drawing this comparison between himself and Jefferson, Banneker also takes the opportunity to join with Jefferson in "abundantly" tasking of the blessings of liberty and to hope that Jefferson will use his influence to see that such gifts, coming "from the immediate hand of that Being, from whom proceedeth every good and perfect Gift" should be extended to African Americans then enslaved.

Whether Jefferson was a Christian or a deist, Banneker would have had leverage in raising the comparison for Jefferson between the slavery of African Americans and the subjugation of all Americans so recently under the British crown. But his final salvo was an emotional one. Banneker entreated Jefferson to put himself in the place of the slaves. Referring to the Biblical Job, Banneker asks Jefferson to "put your soul in their souls' stead" in order, by experiencing the suffering by proxy, to have his hear "enlarged with kindness and benevolence toward them" (Banneker 1791).

Jefferson's answer was probably less than Banneker desired. He did not vow to move heaven and earth to relieve the sufferings of the slaves. In fact, in acknowledging that no one wished more than he to see evidence of the accomplishment of "black men" (Jefferson 1791), Jefferson seems to be expressing a need for proof. Still, he passed the copy of the almanac along to a well-regarded scientist in France, a major center of the intellectual Enlightenment, in hopes that the document would persuade others of the truth of Banneker's words.

This would have been, at the time, a substantial leap of faith on Banneker's part; while certainly Jefferson was kind toward his own slaves, most European Americans did consider slaves not quite on the same plane of 'sentiment' and 'faculties' as they themselves. To propose that Jefferson's viewpoint was more enlightened meant either t

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Approximate Word count = 1246
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: People