19 August 1791
Benjamin Banneker challenges Jefferson on slavery and racial equality
Maryland; letter to Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson
Benjamin Banneker sent Jefferson a manuscript almanac and argued against racial prejudice. Invoking the Declaration’s equality principle and the colonists’ struggle against oppression, he challenged Jefferson’s participation in enslaving other people. His scientific work accompanied a direct appeal to recognize Black people’s humanity and abilities.
Dates preserve the source’s precision. This entry is part of a selected historical record; its qualifications and sources are retained below.
Context / qualification
This was advocacy, not a law or emancipation decree. Banneker assisted Andrew Ellicott in the preliminary survey of the federal territory; that work should not be inflated into authorship of Washington’s city plan.
Sources
- Howard Zinn, A People’s History of the United States, chapter 5, p. 89; supplied print pages, edition/year unidentified
- Benjamin Banneker to Thomas Jefferson, August 19, 1791; letter and editorial note on the federal-territory survey, Founders Online ↗