Rhetorical Analysis Of Benjamin Banneker's Letter To Thomas Jefferson

The institution of slavery has been regarded as a period of injustice, discrimination, and oppression. African Americans have not only been deprived of their human rights, but have faced physical and mental abuse from the hands of those in power. Several advocates, including the son of slaves and ambitious intellectual Benjamin Banneker, have deemed the enslavement of people as a shameful action enacted by the government. Within his letter to Thomas Jefferson, Banneker brings attention to how Jefferson had acknowledged the immoral conditions brought upon the slaves, yet he had implemented no actions to bring an end to the enslavement of his people. In order to convey to Jefferson in an effective matter, Banneker utilizes a demanding tone and an appeal to emotion to enhance his argument. Banneker employs a demanding tone throughout his letter by implementing the repetitive use of pronouns and satire. In order for Jefferson to realize the conditions and horrors bestowed upon the African American peoples, the term “you” appears sporadically to show where Jefferson’s statements and actions did not match his intentions. Various instances in which the African Americans had grown hopeless of the government’s actions were addressed within the letter, and the reasoning behind those actions were truly because of the faults of Jefferson and his failure

The repetitive use of pronouns and satire are utilized in order to question the credibility and motives behind Jefferson’s actions, thus creating a demanding tone. In order to appeal to Jefferson’s emotions, personification and allusions are utilized to establish guilt for not adhering to his statements. Through Banneker’s letter, not only was his efforts successful in attracting attention to slavery, but it urged other advocates to fight for equality as