BENJAMIN BANNEKER
(1731-1806)
Born a free man. Banneker was a self taught inventor,
scientist, and surveyor. He created an Almanac with tide
tables, future eclipses, and medicinal formulas. As a
surveyor he was appointed by President George Washington
to the District of Columbia Commission to survey and
layout the city's original boundaries.
Banneker's letter to Jefferson 1791
"I AM fully sensible of the greatness of that freedom,
which I take with you on the present occasion ; a liberty
which seemed to me scarcely allowable, when I reflected on
that distinguished and dignified station in which you stand,
and the almost general prejudice and prepossession, which is
so prevalent in the world against those of my complexion.
I suppose it is a truth too well attested to you, to need
a proof here, that we are a race of beings, who have long
labored under the abuse and censure of the world ; that we
have long been looked upon with an eye of contempt ; and
that we have long been considered rather as brutish than
human, and scarcely capable of mental endowments.
Sir, I hope I may safely admit, in consequence of that
report which hath reached me, that you are a man far less
inflexible in sentiments of this nature, than many others ;
that you are measurably friendly, and well disposed towards
us ; and that you are willing and ready to lend your aid and
assistance to our relief, from those many distresses, and
numerous calamities, to which we are reduced. Now Sir, if
this is founded in truth, I apprehend you will embrace every
opportunity, to eradicate that train of absurd and false
ideas and opinions, which so generally prevails with respect
to us ; and that your sentiments are concurrent with mine,
which are, that one universal Father hath given being to us
all ; and that he hath not only made us all of one flesh,
but that he hath also, without partiality, afforded us all
the same sensations and endowed us all with the same
faculties ; and that however variable we may be in society
or religion, however diversified in situation or color, we
are all of the same family, and stand in the same relation
to him.
Sir, if these are sentiments of which you are fully
persuaded, I hope you cannot but acknowledge, that it is the
indispensable duty of those, who maintain for themselves the
rights of human nature, and who possess the obligations of
Christianity, to extend their power and influence to the
relief of every part of the human race, from whatever burden
or oppression they may unjustly labor under ; and this, I
apprehend, a full conviction of the truth and obligation of
these principles should lead all to. Sir, I have long been
convinced, that if your love for yourselves, and for those
inestimable laws, which preserved to you the rights of human
nature, was founded on sincerity, you could not but be
solicitous, that every individual, of whatever rank or
distinction, might with you equally enjoy the blessings
thereof ; neither could you rest satisfied short of the most
active effusion of your exertions, in order to their
promotion from any state of degradation, to which the
unjustifiable cruelty and barbarism of men may have reduced
them.
Sir, I freely and cheerfully acknowledge, that I am of
the African race, and in that color which is natural to them
of the deepest dye ; and it is under a sense of the most
profound gratitude to the Supreme Ruler of the Universe,
that I now confess to you, that I am not under that state of
tyrannical thraldom, and inhuman captivity, to which too
many of my brethren are doomed, but that I have abundantly
tasted of the fruition of those blessings, which proceed
from that free and unequalled liberty with which you are
favored ; and which, I hope, you will willingly allow you
have mercifully received, from the immediate hand of that
Being, from whom proceedeth every good and perfect Gift.
Sir, suffer me to recal to your mind that time, in which
the arms and tyranny of the British crown were exerted, with
every powerful effort, in order to reduce you to a state of
servitude : look back, I entreat you, on the variety of
dangers to which you were exposed ; reflect on that time, in
which every human aid appeared unavailable, and in which
even hope and fortitude wore the aspect of inability to the
conflict, and you cannot but be led to a serious and
grateful sense of your miraculous and providential
preservation ; you cannot but acknowledge, that the present
freedom and tranquility which you enjoy you have mercifully
received, and that it is the peculiar blessing of Heaven.
This, Sir, was a time when you cleary saw into the
injustice of a state of slavery, and in which you had just
apprehensions of the horrors of its condition. It was now
that your abhorrence thereof was so excited, that you
publicly held forth this true and invaluable doctrine, which
is worthy to be recorded and remembered in all succeeding
ages : ``We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all
men are created equal ; that they are endowed by their
Creator with certain unalienable rights, and that among
these are, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.''
Here was a time, in which your tender feelings for
yourselves had engaged you thus to declare, you were then
impressed with proper ideas of the great violation of
liberty, and the free possession of those blessings, to
which you were entitled by nature ; but, Sir, how pitiable
is it to reflect, that although you were so fully convinced
of the benevolence of the Father of Mankind, and of his
equal and impartial distribution of these rights and
privileges, which he hath conferred upon them, that you
should at the same time counteract his mercies, in detaining
by fraud and violence so numerous a part of my brethren,
under groaning captivity and cruel oppression, that you
should at the same time be found guilty of that most
criminal act, which you professedly detested in others, with
respect to yourselves.
I suppose that your knowledge of the situation of my
brethren, is too extensive to need a recital here ; neither
shall I presume to prescribe methods by which they may be
relieved, otherwise than by recommending to you and all
others, to wean yourselves from those narrow prejudices
which you have imbibed with respect to them, and as Job
proposed to his friends, ``put your soul in their souls'
stead ;'' thus shall your hearts be enlarged with kindness
and benevolence towards them ; and thus shall you need
neither the direction of myself or others, in what manner to
proceed herein. And now, Sir, although my sympathy and
affection for my brethren hath caused my enlargement thus
far, I ardently hope, that your candor and generosity will
plead with you in my behalf, when I make known to you, that
it was not originally my design ; but having taken up my pen
in order to direct to you, as a present, a copy of an
Almanac, which I have calculated for the succeeding year, I
was unexpectedly and unavoidably led thereto."
Jefferson's response to Banneker
Philadelphia Aug. 30. 1791.
Sir,
I thank you sincerely for your letter of the 19th.
instant and for the Almanac it contained. no body wishes
more than I do to see such proofs as you exhibit, that
nature has given to our black brethren, talents equal to
those of the other colours of men, & that the appearance of
a want of them is owing merely to the degraded condition of
their existence both in Africa & America. I can add with
truth that no body wishes more ardently to see a good system
commenced for raising the condition both of their body &
mind to what it ought to be, as fast as the imbecillity of
their present existence, and other circumstance which cannot
be neglected, will admit. I have taken the liberty of
sending your almanac to Monsieur de Condorcet, Secretary of
the Academy of sciences at Paris, and member of the
Philanthropic society because I considered it as a document
to which your whole colour had a right for their
justification against the doubts which have been entertained
of them. I am with great esteem, Sir, Your most obedt.
humble servt. Th. Jefferson
Resources:
Benjamin Banneker Historical Park
http://www.math.buffalo.edu/mad/special/banneker-benjamin.html |
