Benjamin Banneker writes to Thomas Jefferson in support of abolition - August 19th, 1791

On this day in 1791, American author and astronomer Benjamin Banneker wrote a 1,400-word letter to Thomas Jefferson, challenging his views on slavery.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio,
Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, a
show that proves it's never too late or too early
to make history. I'm Gabeluesier, and today we're looking at
the story of Benjamin Banneker, the fifty nine year old

(00:21):
black scholar who dared to call out the hypocrisy of
one of America's founding fathers. The day was August nineteenth,
seventeen ninety one. American author and astronomer Benjamin Banneker wrote
a fourteen hundred word letter to Thomas Jefferson challenging his

(00:44):
views on slavery. Banneker's experience differed quite a bit from
most African Americans in the early United States. He was
born free in rural Baltimore County, Maryland, on November ninth,
seventeen thirty one. Grew up in relative comfort on a
one hundred acre tobacco farm owned by his parents, the

(01:05):
free black daughter of an American mixed race couple and
a formerly enslaved African man from Guinea. The Bannickers were
among the two hundred or so free black homesteaders who
called the area home, compared to four thousand enslaved in
thirteen thousand white people. The family had to keep a
low profile in their own neighborhood. His animosity toward free

(01:28):
blacks was rising by the day, but they still enjoyed
a level of independence and self determination that was not
available to most black Americans at the time. Benjamin Banneker,
for instance, was able to receive a formal education, which
wasn't the norm for most children in the region, regardless
of race. His grandmother taught him to read and write

(01:50):
at an early age, and when he was a little older,
he attended a local one room schoolhouse where white and
black students were taught together. Bannaker also continued his education
outside the classroom, taking a special interest in mathematics and engineering.
In his early twenties, he studied the gears of a
pocket watch to learn the mechanics, and then hand carved

(02:12):
a large wooden clock that kept perfect time. Functioning time
pieces were such a rarity in eighteenth century Maryland that
Bannickers was later described in the press as quote one
of the curiosities of the wild region. In his adulthood,
Banneker was also an avid student of astronomy and used

(02:33):
his growing knowledge to compile several astronomical charts and to
correctly predict a solar eclipse. His prowess in the subject
eventually caught the eye of noted Philadelphia astronomer David Rittenhouse,
who went on to assist Banneker in publishing a popular
series of almanacs. These achievements earned Banniker another admirer in

(02:55):
the forum of Major Andrew Ellicott, a wealthy Maryland landowner
and surveyor. In early seventeen ninety one, Ellicott was contracted
to survey the boundaries of what would ultimately become Washington,
d c. And because Banneker's keen intellect was well known
in the area, Elicott sought his assistance for the project.

(03:16):
It was the first time in his life that Banneker
had traveled more than ten miles from his family farm,
and the role of a free black man in mapping
the future seed of the federal government would not go unnoticed.
President George Washington and Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson were
both aware of Banneker's involvement. It was somewhat surprising that

(03:38):
Jefferson had signed off on it, as he had written
in his seventeen eighty five book Notes on the State
of Virginia, that people of African descent were intellectually inferior
to whites by nature. Jefferson didn't comment on the matter publicly,
but the local press did. The Georgetown Weekly Ledger, for example,

(03:58):
said that quote Bannecker's abilities as a surveyor and an
astronomer clearly proved that mister Jefferson's conclusion that that race
of men were void of mental endowments was without foundation.
The public debate over Banneker's intellectual capacity shows that despite
his accomplishments, he was still subject to the same racial

(04:21):
prejudices that other black Americans faced, whether they were enslaved
or not. It's perhaps no surprise, then, that a few
months after returning to his farm, Banneker felt compelled to
weigh in on the matter himself. On August nineteenth, seventeen
ninety one, he sent Thomas Jefferson an advance copy of
his almanac, along with a lengthy letter in which he

(04:43):
laid out the case for the abolition of slavery. Banneker
pulled no punches either. He expressed his disappointment that the
author of the Declaration of Independence was himself a slaveholder.
Then he called out Jefferson's hypocrisy directly by quoting his
own words from the declaration's preamble. We hold these truths

(05:05):
to be self evident, that all men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights,
that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Banneker continued from there, writing, quote, Sir, how pitiable is
it to reflect that, although you were so fully convinced

(05:27):
of the benevolence of the Father of mankind, and of
his equal and impartial distribution of those rights and privileges
which he had 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,

(05:47):
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. Jefferson sent
a response to Banneker eleven days later. It was cordial, brief,
and incredibly patronizing. Nobody wishes more than I do, Jefferson wrote,

(06:11):
to see such proofs as you exhibit that nature has
given to our black brethren talents equal to those of
the other colors of men. I can add with truth
that nobody wishes more ardently to see a good system
commenced for raising the condition both of their body and
mind to what it ought to be, as fast as

(06:32):
the imbecility of their present existence and other circumstances which
cannot be neglected will admit. Jefferson added that he had
sent Banneker's almanac to the Marquis de Condorcet of the
French Academy of Sciences so that he could use it
to dispel other people's doubts about black ability. Although Jefferson's

(06:54):
response was noncommittal, Bannecker was seemingly encouraged by it. He
even public their correspondence as a pamphlet, which quickly made
the rounds among the budding abolitionist movement. Sadly, there's reason
to think that Jefferson wasn't sincere in his praise of
Benjamin Bannicker. Three years after the author's passing in eighteen

(07:15):
oh six, Jefferson sent a letter to his friend Joel
Barlow in which he downplayed Bannicker's intelligence. I have a
long letter from Bannicker he wrote, which shows him to
have had a mind of very common stature. Indeed, given
that display of pettiness, I think it's safe to assume
that Bannicker's letter left a mark on Jefferson's ego. Unfortunately,

(07:40):
it didn't have much impact on his views of slavery.
America's third president enslaved more than six hundred people during
his lifetime, and he emancipated only five of them when
he died in eighteen twenty six. With humility, reason, and
great tact, Benjamin Bannicker tried to get Thomas Jefferson and

(08:00):
to see the error of his ways. He offered him
proof that all of his assumptions and prejudices were not
only inaccurate, but immoral as well. And yet Jefferson, for
all of his learning and letters, didn't listen, which really
makes you wonder about the stature of his own mind.

(08:24):
I'm gay, Blues gay, and hopefully you now know a
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(08:44):
at iHeartMedia dot com. Thanks to kazb Bias for producing
the show, and thanks to you for listening. I'll see
you back here again tomorrow for another day in history.
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