This Week in History: The brilliance of Benjamin Banneker
- ANTONE PIERUCCI
- Posted On
Author, scientist, mathematician, farmer, astronomer, publisher and urban planner – Benjamin Banneker was one of the most accomplished men in colonial America.
His inventions, work as an urban planner and author of a famous almanac would all have made Benjamin a noteworthy individual in 18th century America – a time where many talented men crowded for attention.
When you consider, however, that he was also African American, then his accomplishments become all the more remarkable.
Born on Nov. 9, 1731, young Benjamin Banneker grew up in Baltimore County. Son of a half-white woman named Mary and freed slave father named Guinea, Benjamin was just one of only 200 free blacks amongst a population of 4,000 slaves and 13,000 whites living in the colony at the time.
His grandmother Molly Welsh, upon emigrating from England to the colonies as an indentured servant, had defied Maryland law by marrying a freed slave, something her daughter – Mary – also did when she wed Guinea.
So, Benjamin came from a line of rule-breakers to begin with. As far as he was concerned, he was not going to let the color of his skin stop him from achieving his goals in life.
He was helped in his pursuit by his grandmother, who taught him to read and write and helped pay for his education in a mixed-race school operated by a Quaker (one of the only communities in Colonial America who ignored the color of a person’s skin). Benjamin would learn much from his Quaker schoolteacher and would grow up with some Quaker sentiments still intake, including an abhorrence of war and violence.
From an early age, Benjamin Banneker had shown a unique ability at mathematics and mechanics. At just 22, having only seen two timepieces in his entire life – a sundial and a pocket watch – he constructed a working striking clock made entirely of wood based on his own drawings and calculations.
During the Revolutionary War, Benjamin worked with the Ellicott brothers, who built and operated a number of grist mills in the area.
In 1788, as politicians argued over the creation of the American Constitution, Benjamin nearly accurately predicted the timing of an eclipse of the sun, adding astronomy to his growing list of talents.
He later found that the slight error, which caused his estimate to be slightly off, was caused by an error in the professional books and tools he had borrowed, rather than any miscalculation on his part.
One of the Ellicott brothers, Andrew, had meanwhile joined the military and served as a Major. In 1791, Benjamin accompanied Major Andrew Ellicott to the banks of the Potomac River, where he was tasked to help survey for a new federal city. People began to take more notice of Benjamin Banneker.
One local newspaper reported that Ellicott was "attended by Benjamin Banneker, an Ethiopian, whose abilities, as a surveyor, and an astronomer, clearly prove that Mr. [Thomas] Jefferson's concluding that race of men were void of mental endowments, was without foundation."
That same year, Benjamin himself wrote a letter to Thomas Jefferson, in which he said that he hoped Jefferson’s “sentiments were concurrent with mine, which are, that one universal Father hath given being to us all; and that he hath … afforded us all the same sensations and endowed us all with the same faculties.”
Knowing Jefferson’s prejudice, Benjamin went on to call Jefferson and other southern politicians out for their hypocrisy, citing Jefferson’s own words that “All men are created equal.” Towards the end of his letter, he states the following:
“Sir, I suppose that your knowledge of the situation of my brethren is too extensive to need a recital here; neither shall I presume to prescribe methods by which they may be relieved; otherwise than by recommending to you and all others, to wean yourselves from these narrow prejudices which you have imbibed with respect to them, and as Job proposed to his friends ‘Put your Souls in their Souls stead,’ thus shall your hearts be enlarged with kindness and benevolence toward them, and thus shall you need neither the direction of myself or others in what manner to proceed herein.”
In his writings and public speeches, Mr. Jefferson had shown that he was not of the same opinion. His reply to Benjamin, however, was cordial. Jefferson was, after all, a consummate politician.
In 1792, Benjamin Banneker published an almanac that also included commentaries, literature, and fillers that had a political and humanitarian bent. With this almanac, he gained recognition in England and Europe.
Between 1792 and 1797, Benjamin published several additional almanacs in 28 different editions.
Benjamin Banneker died in 1806. On the very day of his funeral, his house burned down, destroying its contents.
Among the items destroyed was a wooden striking clock, which had faithfully kept time for 40 years.
Antone Pierucci is curator of history at the Riverside County Park and Open Space District and a freelance writer whose work has been featured in such magazines as Archaeology and Wild West as well as regional California newspapers.