Benjamin Banneker

Benjamin Banneker
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Grandmother: Molly Welsh, was an English dairy
maid, wrongly convicted of theft and was indentured
to a Maryland tobacco farm in 1683.
She worked the seven years, then purchased her own
farm and then purchased and freed two negro slaves.
She married one of her slaves named Bann Ka or
Bannaky, allegedly the son of an African chief who had
knowledge of astronomy and agriculture, even though
it was against the law, and had a girl named Mary.
She too married a free negro. He took on her surname,
Banneker.
In 1731 they named their first child Benjamin.
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His father eventually bought 100
acres to use as a tobacco farm and
put Benjamin’s name on it to ensure
his freedom and security. He
eventually became the sole owner of
the farm.
Molly taught him reading and
writing and the Bible. She also taught
him agriculture she had learned from
her husband.
He went to a Quaker run elementary
school and possibly achieved 8th
grade education.
He also took on the antislavery
philosophy of the Quakers. Just like
the Quakers, he believed that all men
and races were created equal before
God.
He loved math. It did not take long
before his teachers were not
challenging him anymore. He made
his own puzzles and did that his
whole life.
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Sometime in the 1750s he met a man by the name of Josef Levi and
this man had a pocket watch.
Banneker had only seen two time pieces in his life, so he decided
to make his own.
He borrowed the watch and dismantled it drawing diagrams of all
the inner workings.
After his dissection he hit the books to figure out how to make this
work. he read books about geometry and even made use of Isaac
Newton’s Principia to better understand motion.
He then proceeded to calculate the number of teeth the gears and
how the gears interacted.
After 2 years of painstaking work he had created America’s first
functional clock using nothing but wood and his pocket knife. It is
said that it struck time accurately for 40 to 60 years.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afz4bQX4RC4
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In 1772 he befriended the Ellicott brothers, owners
of a series of mills, and her shared an interest in
science with them.
With a borrowed telescope and a book of
astronomy he taught himself the subject of
astronomy.
With his knowledge of astronomy he accurately
calculated the occurrence of a solar eclipse in 1789.
Why was that significant? His calculation was in
contradiction with those of leading astronomers of
the time, and yet he was right.
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In 1791 Banneker was appointed to be part of a
three man team that would over see the planning
of a Federal District. This district is now called
Washington DC.
When one of the major architects left abruptly,
because of his bad temper, and took the plans with
him, Banneker saved the project, and ultimately
Washington DC, when he recreated the plans from
memory.
This won him renowned fame and he even caught
the eye of then Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson.
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In 1792 he became an author as well as
astronomer, surveyor, and mathematician with
the publication of his almanac which included
his ephemeris, which is his table of the
positions of planets and stars.
This almanac contained information of
medicines/home remedies, tides, eclipses, and
weather predictions that helped with crop
production.
He published six of these almanacs annually
between 1792 and 1797.
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Throughout his life, Benjamin dealt with the
identity issue of being a free black man.
As a surveyor he had caught Thomas
Jefferson’s attention.
The Georgetown Weekly Ledger noticed him
saying that Ellicott was
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“attended by Benjamin Banneker, an Ethiopian,
whose abilities, as a surveyor, and an astronomer,
clearly prove that Mr. Jefferson's concluding that race
of men were void of mental endowments, was
without foundation."
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Before Banneker published his almanacs, he
sent a copy of his first to Thomas Jefferson in
the summer of 1791 with a letter expressing his
concern over Jefferson purchasing slaves.
His apparent triumph over Jefferson was
twofold. For one, Jefferson sent a copy of
Banneker’s almanac to Condorcet at the
Académie des Sciences in Paris.
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Second, he questioned Jefferson’s sentiment of
being a “friend to liberty” even though he
owned slaves.
Banneker believed that “one Universal
Father . . . afforded us all the same sensations
and endowed us all with the same faculties”
and urged Jefferson to accept the same view.
Jefferson responded to his letter commending
Banneker, saying “I am with great esteem, Sir,
Your most obedient humble servant Th.
Jefferson.”
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Banneker argued on behalf of all African Americans,
hoping that his own achievements would prove that all
did not lack intellectual ability and prove what they
could achieve if not restricted by slavery.
Jefferson’s response seems to indicate that his own
views may be wavering.
This, however, was not the case, because about three
years after Banneker’s death, Jefferson wrote to Joel
Barlow saying that Banneker could not have made his
calculations alone; essentially spitting on Banneker’s
grave.
Jefferson thought that Banneker was an exception to
the African American people, not proof that Jefferson
was wrong.
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This seems like a downfall for Banneker, but he
used those letters in a different way.
In 1793 he put the letters between himself and
Jefferson in his almanac, which was endorsed
by his Quaker friends, the Ellicott family, and
the Society for the Promotion of the Abolition
of Slavery of Maryland and of Pennsylvania.
He also included in his almanac many
antislavery poems, essays and speeches from
people such as Phillis Wheatley and William
Cowper.
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Banneker died shortly after his correspondence
with Thomas Jefferson on October 9 of 1806.
It is said he died peacefully of natural causes.
However, his house burned down within two
days of his burial burning all but one journal of
his work, including his clock.
In the 1980’s archaeologists began to the search
for Banneker’s house and started to build the
Banneker Historical Park and Museum.
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In 1976 this monument
was erected in his honor at
the Mount Gilboa Church
cemetery.
And in 1980 the US postal
service issued a stamp in
his honor.
Benjamin
Banneker
Memorial
(http://www.bannekermemorial.org/)
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The Washington
Interdependence Council is
currently in the process of
creating a memorial to honor
Benjamin Banneker as an
American hero.
Surveyor, Astronomer, Mathematician, American
Hero, Genius, First African American
Intellectual… He had many names and titles
but the thing that rains most true about
Banneker was his belief that…
"The color of the skin is in no way connected
with strength of the mind or intellectual
powers."
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Banneker was the first African American Intellectual. How
might have the negro pursuit of education changed if
Banneker had not put his intelligence to use?
How do you think the leading astronomers of the time
reacted to his prediction of the solar eclipse?
How could this have affected astronomy in those days?
How would Washington DC, our capitol, have been affected
if Banneker did not step up?
Banneker himself said “Evil communication corrupts good
manners. I hope to live to hear that good communication
corrects bad manners.” Do you think this has been achieved
in today’s society?
Banneker had many titles. Which one do you think was
most true of him? Or what do you think he should be
called?
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http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part2/2p84.html
http://welcometobaltimorehon.com/people/cartoonmap-of-baltimore/people/benjamin-banneker
http://www.black-inventor.com/BenjaminBanneker.asp
http://www.progress.org/banneker/bb.html
http://www.inventionware.com/benjamin-banneker/
http://nobigotry.facinghistory.org/content/createdequal-how-benjamin-banneker-challenged-jeffersonrace-and-freedom
Student knowledge:
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http://www.newton.k12.ma.us/bigelow/classroom/yerardi/
bioweb/15swbioweb/