Benjamin Banneker: Letter to Thomas Jefferson

Questions for Further Study

• 1.: Why would Banneker’s almanac have been considered such an extraordinary achievement at the time?
• 2.: Make the argument that Banneker was familiar with Jefferson’s views as expressed in Notes on the State of Virginia and that he deliberately sent his almanac to Jefferson with the intention of countering those views. Do you think such an argument would be plausible? Why or why not?
• 3.: Much has been made, both at the time and in the twenty-first century, of the fact that Thomas Jefferson, the principal writer of the Declaration of Independence, was also a slave owner. Do you believe that this fact undermines Jefferson’s place in American history? Do you believe that, if he were alive today, Jefferson would accept the obvious view that slavery is wrong?
• 4.: Compare and contrast Banneker’s thinking about slavery with that expressed in the Petition of Prince Hall and Other African Americans to the Massachusetts General Court.
• 5.: Members of the Quaker religion were at the forefront of the early abolitionist movement. To what extent did Quakerism play a role in Banneker’s intellectual achievements?