Preview

This Sir John Banneker Analysis

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
353 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
This Sir John Banneker Analysis
Banneker unmasks his views on slavery by dispensing his thoughts onto a letter to Thomas Jefferson. Banneker refutes Thomas Jefferson's published ideas about the inferiority of blacks by quoting Jefferson's Declaration of Independence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal". Banneker reveals that the crude treatment to slaves is immoral by using parallelism and appeals.
By using parallelism, Banneker demonstrates the unjustness of slavery. He begins his sentences with “Sir” in order to manifest that he views Jefferson as a revered figure. Banneker states, “This Sir, was a time in which you had just apprehensions…” He implies that at that time, Jefferson came to grips of the callous treatment to slaves and

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Son of a former slave, farmer, astronomer, mathematician, surveyor, and author Benjamin Banneker in his letter to Thomas Jefferson, a mournful way to declare his knowledge towards the slaves in the United States. Banneker’s purpose is to justify the ways of living of the slaves. He adopts an aggravated tone in order to forebode in his letter. Banneker achieves his tone through the use of selection of details and syntax.…

    • 197 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In a letter to Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Banneker uses a succession of rhetorical strategies to isolate the injustices of black oppression and embolden the abolition of slavery. Banneker uses advanced diction to confirm his cogency and blatantly uses logic to support his cause. He meritoriously manipulates quotes from the Bible and the Declaration of Independence to point out the hypocrisy at hand. Banneker identifies the unjust actions of Jefferson and indicates the contrast in which blacks and whites receive different civil liberties and constitutional…

    • 85 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The strategy of repetition emphasizes importance and it is effective in this letter because Banneker respects who Thomas jefferson is and it refers back to how Banneker wants Jefferson to remember when Banneker himself was enslaved. The strategy effectively appeals to to thomas jefferson because the slaves were the ones who couldn’t live their own lives due to the slavery. Benjamin wanted Jefferson to remember the slaves that he once owned and the terrible conditions that they were held in. Banneker stated “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” (Banneker para 1). Benjamin was trying to show Jefferson that he had his…

    • 170 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In his letter to Thomas Jefferson in 1791, Benjamin Banneker uses emotional, logical, and ethical appeal with multiple literary devices to argue against on the issues of slavery.…

    • 211 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Banneker argues against slavery by using numerous political appeals that directly challenges the ideals of Jefferson. Banneker immediately opens his argument by making a reference to the British crown “[reducing America into a state of servitude]”. By doing this, he wants Jefferson to recognize that by advocating slavery, he basically doing the same thing as what the British crown did to his country years ago. By making this appeal, he is essentially labeling Thomas Jefferson as King George, the man that Jefferson worked many years to secede from; by doing this, Banneker is able to argue against slavery by appealing to Jefferson politically by…

    • 608 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Benjamin Banneker is a very passionate man when it comes to racial issues. In fact, he, himself was the son of a slave, which would indicate that he was a man who has experienced racial complications. Banneker (once educated), decided to become an advocate for racial freedom and equality. Mr. Banneker wrote a letter to Thomas Jefferson in hopes of persuading him to rethink the government’s position on slavery. In the letter Banneker uses allusions, repetition, religious diction, and pathos in his writing in hopes to evoke a change in the hypocrisy the colonists’ government has proven to be.…

    • 334 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In my rhetorical analysis I analyzed Banneker’s comparison of pre-revolutionary war to slavery, religious references, and tone. I selected Banneker’s descriptive use of imagery to compare the pre-revolution to slavery, because this comparison struck me as a crucial aspect to his argument. Banneker needed Jefferson, a privileged man who never experienced the life of a slave, to feel a personal connection to the situation. By creating a comparison to something that Jefferson had a crucial role in, Banneker attempts to do just that. I fould this comparison an especially powerful way to start of a letter, because it almost forced Jefferson to continue reading, as it brought his life into the equation. Next, I choose to analyse Banneker’s use of religious references because I felt that these references strengthened Jefferson’s connection with his argument against slavery. I especially focused on the quote from Job because I think it made Banneker’s argument more clear and comparable. Jefferson could read Job’s quote and make a connection the the situation of slavery, and thus understand slavery better. Finally, I choose to analyze Banneker’s tone because his tone…

    • 495 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Apush Chapter 16 Readings

    • 1917 Words
    • 6 Pages

    7) Summary: In this passage written by Frederick Douglas who was an escaped slave that became known as the greatest Black abolitionist of the time for sharing his terrible experience as a slave in order to stop slavery, it discusses the cruel treatments that the slaves are expose to. For instance, if the slaves perform at a poor rate or produces insufficient work, their master would hit them with a whip as a symbol of punishment. Sometimes, the master doesn’t even need a reason to torment the slaves other than for his/her own satisfaction. In addition, Douglas who was a slave for the majority of his life, claims that the laws created by the Southern states were unfair since it was design to give the master full control over the slaves which took away their freedom. Moreover, Douglas supported his idea by repeating the same phrase and adding the different things that were restricted against the slaves such as earning a proper education, receiving good food/clothes, and working hard to make money. Furthermore, Douglas asserts that the physical cruelties that are brought upon the slaves are sufficiently harassing and revolting since it inflicts on the mental, moral and religious nature of the helpless victims. All of these reasons explain why Douglas…

    • 1917 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    One major continuity in American history classes is the pointing out of the hypocrisies of our founding fathers. They wrote and signed a document that stressed the importance of natural rights for all, yet all of them owned slaves that they considered inferior to themselves. Benjamin Banneker writes a letter to one of these founding fathers, more specifically the one that wrote “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, and that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” in the Declaration of Independence (21-25). Banneker maintains strong stance on how unjust slavery is in the United States. He encourages Jefferson to relate…

    • 884 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “All men are created equal, and that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” This excerpt shows that in the Declaration of Independence all men were created equal. However, Benjamin Banneker being the son of former slaves has seen the effects of slavery all around him. In his letter to Thomas Jefferson he uses allusion to the bible to portray the life of the slaves, adjectives to emphasize the inequality, and parallel structure to highlight his concerns.…

    • 521 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Banneker insinuates his oppression of slavery by analyzing Jefferson’s actions towards slavery. He evaluates Jefferson point of view of how he clearly say the “injustice of slavery.” Banneker wants to call attention to the fact that Jefferson is aware…

    • 393 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In 1790, the first U.S census revealed that of the four million U.S residents , seven hundred thousand were black slaves. Who didn’t had rights or liberties they were owned by the farm or plantation owner just as if they were livestock. Benjamin Banneker, the son of former slaves, was a farmer, astronomer, mathematician, and author. In 1971 Banneker wrote a letter to Thomas Jefferson arguing against slavery. In his letter Banneker describes how atrocious the black slaves are treated . Banneker's purpose is that he wants all black slaves to have the same rights as anyone else because they live in the U.S were they have the right of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness which all black slaves are being denied. Benjamin Banneker…

    • 339 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In The Notes on the State of Virginia, the author, Thomas Jefferson, talks about the differences between blacks and whites and explains why the two should live separate from one another. These differences include a number of physical as well as metal features that make the two different. Not only does Jefferson talk about why blacks should be separated from whites but he also talks about how in his opinion whites are more superior. Jefferson believed that blacks whites could not live together and that black’s should be emancipated because whites were superior.…

    • 729 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The primary writer of the Declaration of Independance and one of the most prominent figures of the early history of America, Thomas Jefferson is one name that almost every American should have at least heard of by now. In the past, I have been taught that Thomas Jefferson was an abolitionist who believed that slavery was immoral, but his racism towards African Americans (and his idea of white superiority) was very surprising to me. He seemingly wants slavery to end (while owning many slaves himself) but also believes that, “It is not against experience to suppose, that different species of the same genus, or varieties of the same species, may possess different qualifications.” He states that African Americans are of a different species, and later remarks…

    • 1933 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Once the colonies had successfully gained their independence, our Founding Fathers had the intentions of creating a nation that did not repeat the same inequalities experienced with Britain. This ideal that “all men are created equal” was written in the Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson, who in his lifetime owned hundreds of slaves. How could a highly respected leader and politician write these famous words while his actions directly contradicted them? While Jefferson believed that slavery was wrong, he remained involved with the system of slavery in order to avoid disrupting America’s fragile development and also to maintain order in his personal and professional…

    • 934 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays