Biography of Benjamin Banneker
Benjamin Banneker, the Negro astronomer and scientist,
was born in Baltimore County, near Ellicott's Mills, on
the 9th of November, 1732. Banneker's grandmother was a
white woman, Mary Welch, who was sent out from England,
and, who, having served her master for seven years,
purchased a farm and two black slaves. One of these
slaves she married. Benjamin seems to have been quite a
favorite of his grandmother who taught him how to read.
About the same time there was a "pay school" in the
neighborhood to which a few colored children were
admitted. A part of Benjamin's education was secured in
this school.
Very early in life Banneker showed fondness for
mechanical knowledge. He became much interested in the
construction of the Mills which were then being erected
nearby. Mr. George Ellicott was very much drawn towards
Banneker, and gave him the use of his library, and such
mechanical tools as were available. In 1754, Banneker
constructed a clock, which not only told the time of
day, but struck the hour. Through correspondence,
Banneker became acquainted with scientific men in all
parts of the world. Upon invitation of the Commissioner,
he assisted in the laying out of the District of
Columbia. After his return from this work, in 1791, he
got out his first almanac, for the year 1792. Before it
went to press, he sent a manuscript copy to Thomas
Jefferson, seeking to interest Mr. Jefferson in the
freedom of the slave. The letter is here given, together
with the reply which it elicited from Mr. Jefferson:
Maryland, Baltimore
County
Near Ellicott's Lower Mills
August 19, 1791
To Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State,
Philadelphia:
Sir: I am fully sensible of the greatness of
that freedom which I take on the present
occasion, a liberty, which to me scarcely
allowable, when I reflect on that distinguished
and honorable station in which you stand, and
the almost general prejudice and prepossession
which is 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
considered rather brutish, than as human: and
scarcely capable of mental endowments.
Sir, I hope I may with safety 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 ready to lend
your aid and assistance to our relief, from the
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
prevail 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 that, however variable we may be in society
and religion, however diversified in situation
and color, we are all of the same family and
stand in the same relation to Him.
Sir, if these sentiments, of which you have long
been persuaded fully, 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 profess 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 unjustly labor under; and this I apprehend
a full conviction of the truth and obligation of
these principles should lead us all to.
Sir, I have long been convinced that if your
love for yourselves and for those inestimable
laws which preserve to you the rights of human
nature, was founded on sincerity, you could not
but be solicitous that every individual, of
whatever distinction might enjoy equally with
you the blessings thereof; neither could you
rest satisfied short of the most active
diffusion 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 thralldom 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
unequal liberty with which you are favored, and
which I hope you will willingly allow you have
received from the immediate Hand of that Being
from whom proceedeth "every good and perfect
gift."
Sir, suffer me to call 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, to 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 in which you clearly 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. Sir 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, and that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain
inalienable rights, that amongst these are life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
Here, Sir, was a time in which your tender
feelings for yours engaged you thus to declare;
you were then impressed with a proper idea of
the just valuation of liberty, and the free
possession of those blessings to which you were
entitled by nature, but Sir, how pitiable it is
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 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 and 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.
Sir, 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 to
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 souls in their souls' stead." Thus
shall your hearts be enlarged with kindness and
benevolence towards them, and thus shall you I
need neither the direction of myself nor others
in what manner to proceed therein.
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
ensuing year, I was unexpectedly led thereto.
This calculation. Sir, is the production of my
arduous study in this, my advanced stage of my
life; for having long had undoubted desires to
become acquainted with the secrets of nature, I
have had to gratify my curiosity therein,
through my own assiduous application to
astronomical study, in which I need not recount
to you the many difficulties and disadvantages I
have had to encounter.
And though I had almost declined to make my
calculations for the ensuing year, in
consequence of the time I had allotted thereto,
being taken up at the Federal Territory, by the
request of Mr. Andrew Ellicott; yet finding
myself under several engagements to printers of
this state, to whom I had communicated my
design, on my return to my place of residence, I
industriously applied myself thereto, which I
hope I have accomplished with correctness and
accuracy, a copy of which I have taken the
liberty to: address to you, and which I hope you
will favorably receive, and although you may
have the opportunity of perusing it after its
publication, yet I choose to send it to you in
manuscript previous thereto, that thereby you
might not only have an earlier inspection, but
that you might; also view it in my own hand
writing.
And now. Sir, I shall conclude, and subscribe
myself with the most profound respect.
Your most obedient, humble servant,
B. Banneker |
To Mr. Thomas
Jefferson, Secretary of State:
Mr. Jefferson at once
replied and said:
"Sir : I thank you
sincerely for your letter and the Almanac it
contained." Nobody wishes more than I do to see
such proofs as you exhibit that Nature has given
to our black brethren talent equal to those of
the other colors of men, and that the appearance
of the want of them is owing merely to the
degraded condition of their existence both in
Africa and America." |
Maryland
Biographies | Maryland
AHGP
Source: Gazetteer of Maryland,
by Henry Gannett, Washington, Government Printing
Office, 1904.
|
