Benjamin Banneker Rhetorical Analysis

“Most men today cannot conceive of a freedom that does not involve somebody's slavery.” (W.E.B Du Bois). When asked about slavery, the majority of Americans in our day and age have a basic understanding of it’s history and how horrible it was. However, to Benjamin Banneker, it was much more personal. Banneker, born from a long line of slaves, defied the odds and became a successful scholar and activist. In 1791, Banneker wrote a persuasive letter to Thomas Jefferson, then secretary of state, in an attempt to condemn slavery. By using rhetorical devices such as emotional words and allusions to past events, Banneker effectively argues his position in an extremely convincing manner.

One of the main argumentative strategies Banneker uses is the use of emotional words. By using strong, negative words, Banneker evokes a sense of fear, helping to convince Jefferson of the evils of slavery. Powerful words also give the reader a feeling of respect, because many of the words Banneker uses are not common in everyday language. Emotional words that Banneker uses in his

Allusion, a reference to another event or piece of literature, makes his argument stronger by having something that Jefferson can relate slavery to. As Jefferson was a white man, he had never experienced the oppression of slavery, but by having something to compare it to he would likely become more compassionate to the cause. Banneker uses allusion in the line “recall to your mind that time in which the arms tyranny of the British Crown were exerted with very powerful effort to reduce you to a State of Servitude” (Prompt). As an American politician, Thomas Jefferson had strong feelings about the reign of the British over America. With this event in American history to compare slavery to, Jefferson can better understand the pain that slaves had to go through in their oppression, although the events are on very different