Benjamin Banneker Biography Essay

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Pages: 2

This is an Biography written by Olivia Montgomery on the life of Benjamin Banneker.
Benjamin Banneker was born on November 9th, 1731 in Maryland, Ellicott's Mills (Baltimore County). He was born into an mixed household, his father being an former slave whose birth name was Robert,a freed slave from Guinea, and to an free African American woman respectively named Mary Banneky. Benjamin lived on his father's farm and lived with 3 sisters. Whose names are all unknown. Banneker read the bible to his family in the evenings, which helped his ability to read. His grandmother and mother taught him how to read formal words and letters but his education was largely self-taught. He taught himself literature, mathematics, history and later , astronomy.
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Banneker grew into an adult he inherited the farm left to him by his family. He succeeded with the successful farm, growing tobacco there as his days went past.
When Benjamin was at the age of 58, Banneker became interested in astronomy, because his neighbor at the time, George Ellicott lent him several books on the matter,as well as an telescope and multiple drafting instruments to monitor space. This newly found skill was self taught also, he learnt and understood the science or astronomy, guiding many others in the process. He made graphs and projections of the sun and moon eclipses that happened during his time. In 1791 Banneker was denied for the sellings of his observations, but these were tiny setbacks for Benjamin and untimely did not end his journey.
In August 19th, 1791, Banneker wrote to Thomas Jefferson, who in 1776 drafted the United States Declaration Of Independence while serving as secretary of state, pointing out the injustice inside the Declaration. In the letter, he had accused Thomas of using fraud and disastrous violence to oppress the African Americans, enslaved within the