Summary Of Benjamin Banneker's Letter To Thomas Jefferson

In his letter to Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Banneker cries out against slavery and how Thomas Jefferson seemed to have forgotten the slaves when he was writing the Declaration of Independence. With his use of religious connotation, repetition and references to Jefferson’s own past Banneker channels his feelings of negativity against slavery to Jefferson.

Banneker knows that Jefferson is a religious man as most men were back in the day and by bring God in to his arguments he shows Jefferson that god too, is against slavery. He writes that Jefferson is “convinced of the benevolence of the Father” and that Jefferson “counteracts his mercies” by allowing slavery to go on. Jefferson is just not getting the picture from God that Slavery is not a good thing. Banneker also mentions Job. Banneker asserts that Jefferson needs to “put your souls in their soul’s stead” as Job told his friends. Job in that quote is trying to tell his friends that by seeing how others feel their hearts will “enlarge with kindness.” Banneker is showing Jefferson that the message Job learned will still work in that day and age.

Banneker sure does it in his letter. He starts out his letter with sir and then every single new paragraph at the beginning he uses sir. Why would he start out every paragraph with the same exact word? Banneker does it to show respect to Jefferson. He may be upset that the Declaration of Independence did not truly mention slaves as part of that all men have unalienable rights segment; however, he does realize that Jefferson is a man of high status and not giving him the politeness his status provokes would work against him. He shows the politeness to allow Jefferson to note that race does not make one inferior and that Banneker thinks of him as an equal. By stroking Jefferson’s ego and showing him respect continually allows Banneker to have a more educated conversation with