carried on through Abraham Lincoln’s presidency and the addition of the 14th Amendment. Benjamin Banneker, a former slave, took the side of anti-slavery throughout his letter, utilizing a historical allusion along with anaphora to facilitate his audience’s understanding of Banneker’s point of view. Banneker capitalizes on his audience’s vulnerability through the use of a historical allusion. The audience of the letter is Thomas Jefferson, one of the creators of the Declaration of Independence, so Banneker…
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Benjamin Banneker was a “son of former slaves” who was very well-educated (i.e. a farmer, astronomer, mathematician, surveyor, and author.) The combination of those two qualities give him a strong opinion on slavery. He conveys his opinion of slavery in a letter he wrote to Thomas Jefferson, the framer of the Declaration of Independence and the secretary of state under George Washington. In Banneker’s letter to Thomas Jefferson, he pitches a series of arguments against the institution of slavery…
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In Benjamin Banneker's letter to Thomas Jefferson, he says his enthusiastic want to see the Declaration of Independence connected to all Americans, in this manner, recall dominate so America would be a reference point of the God given, fortunate foundation of life, freedom, and the search for joy. Along these lines, Banneker uses different different techniques to tell his energetic request to Jefferson. In the main passage, Banneker makes numerous interests to abolitionist slavery beliefs. He looks…
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Benjamin Banneker was the son of former slaves, who later became an author. In the year 1791 Banneker wrote a letter to Thomas Jefferson arguing against slavery. He, being the son of former slaves, portrayed an indigent yet sardonic tone throughout his letter. Mr. Banneker was upset about the continuation of slavery after the signing of the Declaration of Independence which stated, “...all men are created equal… and (should have) certain unalienable rights…” This document that helped the United…
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tradition like Buddhism and being co-mingled with idealized visions of what it means to be wealthy in America. Our nation gained its independence in 1776 and only 15 years later were citizens questioning to the true ideas of their nation. Benjamin Banneker’s…
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going through a lot of discriminations (racism, inequality). It is the sense that Benjamin Banneker was inspired to write and issue letter to Thomas Jefferson. This letter was the first formal document showing protest in the History of America. At this point, we have question which pop out of our mind. Who was Thomas Jefferson? Who was Benjamin Banneker? What was the letter about? Why was the letter significant? Benjamin Banneker was a free black African American born on November 9, 1731 and passed…
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In 1791, Benjamin Banneker wrote a letter to Thomas Jefferson, the Secretary of State at that time, regarding the injustice that the African population faced in America and the belief of black freedom. In the letter, Banneker uses repetition, allision, and irony to support his argument against slavery. Allusion is is one of the types of rhetorical strategies Banneker used in his letter. Allusion is when the writer mentions other work, or refers to an earlier use of their own work. This was shown…
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Benjamin Banneker, the son of a former slave well educated in many fields of work, wrote a letter to Thomas Jefferson about the need for abolishing slavery. Within this letter he uses rhetorical devices such as reflection and flashback,allusion, repetition and diction. “Sir suffer me to recall to your mind that in which the arms and tyranny of the british crown was exserted”, the first times in Banneker's letter to Jefferson. He started off reminding Jefferson that he not to long ago was in the…
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In 1971, Benjamin Banneker wrote a letter to Thomas Jefferson, arguing against slavery. Jefferson was the framer of the Declaration of Independence and secretary of state to President George Washington, thus making him a candidate who has some power to end slavery (or at least influence those with a higher position) once and for all (intro, lines 2-3). Because of Jefferson’s status, Banneker uses a variety of strategies to persuade Jefferson that slavery needs to be abolished through his use of…
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Benjamin Banneker in his letter to Thomas Jefferson offers a series of arguments against the institution of slavery through a respectful tone and religious & historical references. His letter is discussing the matter of slavery. He would appreciate it if Thomas Jefferson would try to “put your souls in their souls stead,” because whether Jefferson realizes it or not he was in a similar situation when Jefferson had to fight for his freedom from the British. Now, Jefferson wants to do the same thing…
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