Benjamin Banneker Letter Rhetorical Analysis

What thoughts come to mind when someone says the word slave? Uneducated, poor, and mistreated. That was the complete opposite of Benjamin Banneker, a fearless man and the son of former slaves. In 1791, this well-educated man wrote to the most important man at the time, Thomas Jefferson, the framer of the Declaration of Independence and secretary of state to President George Washington. The letter Banneker wrote to Jefferson contained rhetorical strategies to argue against slavery.

Before the civil war, African Americans endured slavery and oppression as part of their life. Although at first these custom were seemingly unchallenged, fervent abolitionist and anti-slavery sentiments soon became prominent among society. Many of these abolitionist were prominent African Americans who had escaped slavery or earned their freedom, one of them including Benjamin Banneker. In his letter to Thomas Jefferson in 1796, Banneker utilizes a variety of rhetorical devices to employ a poignant argument against slavery. Through his use of allusions, logic, strong diction, and logic, Banneker effectively elaborates an efficient argument to state that slavery is morally incorrect.

In the second paragraph, Benjamin Banneker alludes to the Declaration of the Independence to note that Jefferson himself wrote “all men are created equal” and have the right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Banneker includes this detail to prove to the audience that Banneker is knowledgeable, and also point out the hypocrisy of the whites. The use of Jefferson’s own words against himself creates a slight shock from the audience, and urges a re-examination of themselves and the principles they claim to hold dearly. Banneker opens the third paragraph with several religious details that criticize Jefferson’s support for slavery. Banneker explains that while Jefferson is “fully convinced of the benevolence of the father” he “counteracts

In 1791 Benjamin Banneker, the son of former slaves, astronomer, and almanac author, wrote a letter to Thomas Jefferson, in a courteous but forceful manner, challenging the framer of the Declaration of Independence and secretary of state on the topics of race and freedom. He touches on the topics of the way blacks were treated and seen by the common white American citizen and how it is an injustice. In his letter, Banneker uses ethos, logos, pathos, repetition, syntax, and juxtaposition to sympathize with Jefferson about former hardships to perhaps reach common ground.

It is said that slavery is a stain on our country’s past. The topic of slavery was and still is a controversy in which equality is a struggle to obtain. However, what occurred in the past created the nation that lives on today. Benjamin Banneker was one man who stood out in the efforts to end slavery. He did so in writing a strongly worded letter to Thomas Jefferson that exclaimed his opinions and feelings. Banneker used an appeal to pathos, repetition, and religious appeals to argue against slavery.

Son of former slaves, farmer, astronomer, and author Benjamin Banneker in his letter to Thomas Jefferson in asserts that slavery is erroneous and should be discontinued. During this time period, slaves had no rights or freedom, slaves were property. Banneker was a slavery abolitionist, and wanted to help African Americans. Banneker adopts a respectful yet vexed tone in order to criticize and accuse Thomas Jefferson of being a hypocrite. Thomas Jefferson wrote the lines, “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”, but he himself owned slaves, so this describes he did not want liberty for African American slaves. Banneker is offended and vexed, judging Jefferson as a hypocrite. Banneker achieves his purpose of judging Jefferson through his prominent use of diction.

One of the devices used is allusion which uses a well known fact or opinion by people in order to connect to their life in some way. This is illustrated in his writing when he uses “heaven” as a reference to the place that good people go, in reference to the people for equal rights for blacks. This works because it is a familiar place, referenced in the bible, that people know about. This sense of an emotional feeling or tie to something is used a lot in Banneker's writing, such as his use of logical reasoning which is a device that forces the reader to think logically rather than emotionally about something, eliminating outlying opinions. When Banneker uses phrases such as, “you clearly saw” you know that he is referring to logical reasoning because it is clear to everyone the same

The men do not have the same past experiences as he does, so therefore they cannot tell him that his methods are wrong. In reality, all he is doing is fighting for something the men already have. By repeating the phrase “when you have… ” King is only exemplifying the fact that the men are trying to push their values and opinions into a place where they don’t belong. King wants to make sure they know exactly what it has been like to grow up as an African American at the time, in order to help them visualize why it is so important for society to change. In Banneker’s letter, he ends his letter by stating that he supposes Jefferson’s “knowledge of the situation of [his] brethren is too extensive...”, which can be taken as a sarcastic remark seeing as Jefferson was a wealthy white man, so he could not possibly be able to have “too extensive” knowledge on the situation like Banneker himself.

The letter from Banneker to Jefferson integrates extremely knowledgeable and formal diction in contention against the issue of slavery. The advanced level of language introduced by Banneker is another contributing component to his believability on his position against subjugation. A few great instances of Banneker's diction are in the words "abhorrence" in line 18, "benevolence" in line 32, and the phrase "professedly detested" in line 40, all of these showing the great knowledge that he carries. Banneker’s education has the potential to prove to Jefferson that black people can be on the same level as white people despite being put below white people as their slaves. In the second paragraph of his writing, Benjamin uses his knowledge of the time period when the United States was under British rule, inviting Jefferson to recall the "injustice" and the "horrors of its condition”. In doing so, he compares this to the slavery of black people during his own current state of life. In lines 35-38 of Banneker’s letter, it is stated, "that you should at the same time counteract his (God's) mercies in detaining by fraud and violence so numerous a part of

Banneker’s word choice takes a large role in his letter as it show his persuasive bold stance and emotional message to Jefferson. Banneker used bold and compelling detailed phrases, in particular “I entreat you… your abhorrence thereof was so excited… how pitiable… groaning captivity and cruel oppression” (Paragraphs 1-3) moves readers of the letter responsively into feeling guilt and grief towards the ones enslaved. His word choice implies formally that Jefferson, the man who wrote the Declaration of Independence who stated “all men are created equal, and that they are endowed by their creator with unalienable rights” (Paragraph 2) contradicted himself “you should at the same

The allusions packing a punch worthy of recognition with Banneker turning Jefferson’s words to support his reasonable argument for the people to “wean” themselves from prejudices. Banneker not only takes Jefferson’s words from the famous Declaration of Independence, but also spends time praising the Declaration unveiling a double meaning. The double meaning presents the respect for the Declaration, however, also in a sense that implicates the need for the words to actually be enforced in all areas. The other allusion to the Bible adds the power from the religious zeal presents at that

Benjamin Banneker, whom was the son of former slaves, wrote a letter to Thomas Jefferson to argue against slavery. Although Banneker may seem biased towards slavery because he was the son of former slaves, his letter was structured in a way that proves his knowledge towards slavery. Banneker’s opinion was directly stated to Jefferson through the use of allusion, diction, and repetition.

Banneker uses allusions throughout his letter to persuade Jefferson to empathize with the slaves and have more compassion towards their struggle. This includes in lines 6 and 7, when Banneker points out, “you cannot but acknowledge that the present freedom

Being respectful and thoughtful, Benjamin Banneker addresses the issue of slavery. Throughout the letter, where the son of former slaves writes to Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Banneker reasons African Americans are equal to white men, and refers to the mistreatment of slaves by Americans in order to argue that slavery is morally wrong.

Benjamin Banneker was the son of a former slave and an extremely educated African-American man. His letter to Thomas Jefferson in 1791 was a carefully worded opposition to the institution of slavery. In his letter, Banneker uses influential allusions, a tone that changes midway into his essay, and well-read diction that call the recipient (Jefferson) to make a gradual change and understand his own hypocrisy.