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Rhetorical Analysis Of Benjamin Banneker

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Benjamin Banneker, an educated son of former slaves, wrote a strongly worded letter to Thomas Jefferson in which he argued the possession and oppression of slaves. With the use of tone, allusion, and parallelism; Banneker criticized the Secretary of State and framer of the Declaration of Independence for his hypocrisy and condemned him with the purpose of awakening his morals and bringing an end to this violation of life and liberty.

Throughout this letter Banneker assesses the situation with a respectful, yet accusatory tone. He only addresses to Jefferson as “sir” which shows a sign of respect for Jefferson`s position, but this does not stop Banneker from condemning Jefferson for his role in slavery. Banneker’s tone switches to an accusatory manner when he says “but, Sir, how pitiable is it to reflect, that although you were so fully convinced of the benevolence of …show more content…

In paragraph 2, he alludes to the Declaration of Independence, which Jefferson helped form. The Declaration states “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.” By alluding to the Declaration Banneker shows how Jefferson, along with others who formed the Constitution, are hypocrites. Jefferson wrote that all men were created equal, and they all had unalienable rights, yet they owned slaves that were not treated equal, and not given any rights. These colonists also fought against oppression, yet they now partake in the oppression of blacks. “Put your souls in their souls stead” which Job proposed to his friends in the bible, and Banneker alludes to in his letter. Banneker uses this allusion in hopes of Jefferson, along with other slave owners, to put themselves in the place of slaves; allowing them to experience the “groaning captivity” and “cruel oppression” of

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