Benjamin Banneker’s Letter to Thomas
Jefferson
Near
Ellicott’s Lower Mills, August 19, 1791
Thomas
Jefferson, Secretary of State
Sir, I am
fully sensible of the greatness of that freedom which I take with you on the
present occasion, a liberty which seemed to me scarcely allowable, when I
reflected on that distinguished and dignified station in which you stand; and
the almost general prejudice and prepossession which is so prevalent in the
world against those of my complexion.
I suppose
it is a truth too well attested to you to need a proof here that we are a race
of beings who have long labored under the abuse and censure of the world, that
we have long been looked upon with an eye of contempt, and that we have long
been considered rather as brutish than human, and scarcely capable of mental
endowments.
Sir, I hope
I may safely admit, in consequence of that report which hath reached me, that
your are a man far less inflexible in sentiments of this nature than many
others; that you are measurably friendly and well disposed towards us, and that
you are willing and ready to lend your aid and assistance to our relief from
those many distresses and numerous calamities to which we are reduced.
Now, Sir,
if this is founded in truth, I apprehend you will readily embrace every
opportunity to eradicate that train of absurd and false ideas and opinions
which so generally prevail with respect to us, and that your sentiments are
concurrent with mine, which are that one universal Father hath given being to
us all, and that he hath not only made us all of one flesh, but that he hath
also without partiality afforded us all with the Same Sensations, and endured
us all with the same faculties, and that however variable we may be in society
or religion, however diversified in situation or color, we are all of the Same
Family, and Stand in the Same relation to him.
Sir, if
these are sentiments of which you are fully persuaded, I hope you cannot but
acknowledge that it is the indispensable duty of those who maintain for
themselves the rights of human nature, and who profess the obligations of
Christianity, to extend their power and influence to the relief of every part
of the human race from whatever burthen or oppression they may unjustly labour under, and this I apprehend a full conviction of the
truth and obligation of these principles should lead all to.
Sir, I have
long been convinced that if your love for yourselves and for those inesteemable laws which preserve to you the rights of human
nature, was founded on Sincerity, you could not but be solicitous that every
Individual of whatsoever rank or distinction might with you equally enjoy the
blessing thereof, neither could you rest satysfied[sp],
short of the most active diffusion of your exertions, in order to their
promotion from any State of degradation, to which the unjustifyable[sp]
cruelty and barbarism of men may have reduced them.
Sir, I
freely and Cheerfully acknowledge, that I am of the African race, and, in that colour which is natural to them of deepest dye*(*My
father was brought here a Slave from Africa); and it is under a Sense of the
most profound gratitude to the Supreme Ruler of the universe, that I now
confess to you, that I am not under that State of tyrannical thralldom and inhuman
captivity, to which too many of my brethren are doomed; but that I have
abundantly tasted of the fruition of those blessings which proceed from that
free and unequalled liberty with which you are favored and which I hope you
will willingly allow you have received from the Hand of that Being from whom proceedith every good and perfect gift.
Sir, suffer
me to recall to your mind that time in which the arms and tyranny of the
British Crown were exerted with every powerful effort, in order to reduce you to
a State of Servitude; look back I intreat[sp] you on
the variety of dangers to which you were exposed, reflecting on that time in
which every human aid appeared unavailable, and in which even hope and
fortitude wore the aspect of inability to the Conflict, and you cannot but be
led to a Serious and grateful Sense of your miraculous and providential
preservation. You cannot but acknowledge, that the present freedom and tranquility which you enjoy
you have mercifully received, and that it is the peculiar blessing of Heaven.
This, Sir,
was a time in which you clearly saw into the injustice of a State of Slavery,
and in which you had just apprehensions of the horrors of its condition, it was
now, Sir, that your abhorrence thereof was so excited, that you publickly[sp]
held forth this true and invaluable doctrine, which is worthy to be recorded
and remembered in all succeeding ages.
“We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created
equal, and that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable
rights, that amongst these are life, liberty and the persuit[sp]
of happiness.”
Here, Sir,
was a time in which your tender feelings for your selves engaged you thus to
declare, you were then impressed with proper ideas of the great valuation of
liberty, and the free possession of those blessings to which you were entitled
by nature; but Sir how pitiable it is to reflect, that the Father of mankind,
and of his equal and impartial distribution of those rights and privileges
which he had conferred upon them, that you should at the same time counteract
his mercies, in detaining by fraud and violence so numerous a part of my
brethren under groaning captivity and cruel oppression, that you should at the
same time be found guilty of that most criminal act, which you professedly
detested in others, with respect to yourselves.
Sir, ii
suppose that your knowledge of the situation of my brethren is too extensive to
need a recital here; neither shall I presume to prescribe methods by which they
may be relieved, otherwise than by recommending to you, and all others, to wean
yourselves from those narrow prejudices which you have imbibed with respect to
them, and as Job proposed to his friends “Put you Souls in their Souls’ stead,”
thus shall your hearts be enlarged with kindness and benevolence towards them,
and thus shall you need neither the direction of myself or others in what
manner to proceed herein.
And now,
Sir, although my sympathy and affection for my brethren hath caused my
enlargement thus far, I ardently hope that your candour[sp] and generosity
will plead with you in my behalf, when I make known to you, that it was not
originally by design; but that having taken up my pen in order to direct to you
as a present, a copy of an Almanack[sp] which I have
calculated for the succeeding year, I was unexpectedly and unavoidably led
thereto.
This
calculation, Sir is the production of my arduous study, in this my advanced
stage of life; for having long had unbounded desires to become acquainted with
the secrets of nature, I have had to gratify my curiosity herein thro my own
assiduous application to Astronomical Study, in which I need not to recount to
you the many difficulties and disadvantages which I have had to encounter.
And altho[sp]
I had had almost declined to make my calculation for the ensuing year, in
consequence of that time which I had allotted therfor
being take up at the Federal Territory
by the request of Mr. Andres Ellicott, yet finding myself under several
engagements to printers of this state to whom I had communicated by design, on
my return to my place of residence, I industriously apply’d[sp] myself thereto, which I hope I humbly request
you will favourably receive, and altho[sp]
you may have the opportunity of persuing[sp] it after
its publication, yet I chose to send it to you in manuscript previous thereto,
that thereby you might not only have an earlier inspection, but that you might
also view it in my own hand writing.
And now
Sir, I shall conclude and subscribe my self with the most profound respect,
Your most
Obedient humble Servant
Benjamin
Banneker
* * *
Thomas Jefferson’s Reply
SIR, I
thank you sincerely for you letter of the 19th instant and for the
Almanac it contained. No body wishes
more than I do to see such proofs as you exhibit, that nature has given to our
black brethren, talents equal to the other colors of men, and that the
appearance of a want of them is owing merely to the
degraded condition of their existence, both in Africa and
I have
taken the liberty of sending your Almanac to M. de Condorcet, Secretary of the
I am with
great esteem, Sir, your most obedient humble servant.
Thomas
Jefferson
W.E.B. DuBois Learning
Center Tutorials