COPY OF A LETTER FROM BENJAMIN BANNEKER, &c.
Maryland, Baltimore County, August 19, 1791.
SIR,
I AM fully sensible of the greatness of that freedom, which I take with you on the present occasion ; a liberty which seemed to me scarcely allowable, when I reflected on that distinguished and dignified station in which you stand, and the almost general prejudice and prepossession, which is so prevalent in the world against those of my complexion.
I suppose it is a truth too well attested to you, to need a proof here, that we are a race of beings, who have long labored under the abuse and censure of the world ; that we have long been looked upon with an eye of contempt ; and that we have long been considered rather as brutish than human, and scarcely capable of mental endowments.
Sir, I hope I may safely admit, in consequence of that report which hath
reached me, that you are a man far less inflexible in sentiments of this nature,
than many others ; that you are measurably friendly, and well disposed towards
us ; and that you are willing and ready to lend your aid and assistance to our
relief, from those many distresses, and numerous calamities, to which we are
reduced. Now Sir, if this is founded in truth, I apprehend you will embrace
every opportunity, to eradicate that train of absurd and false ideas and
opinions, which so generally prevails with respect to us ; and that your
sentiments are concurrent with mine, which are, that one universal Father hath
given being to us all ; and that he hath not only made us all of one flesh, but
that he hath also, without partiality, afforded us all the same sensations and
endowed us all with the same faculties ; and that however variable we may be in
society Sir, if these are sentiments of which you are fully persuaded, I hope you
cannot but acknowledge, that it is the indispensible duty of those, who maintain
for themselves the rights of human nature, and who possess the obligations of
Christianity, to extend their power and influence to the relief of every part of
the human race, from whatever burden or oppression they may unjustly labor under
; and this, I apprehend, a full conviction of the truth and obligation of these
principles should lead all to. Sir, I have long been convinced, that if your
love for yourselves, and for those inestimable laws, which preserved to you the
rights of human nature, was founded on sincerity, you could not but be
solicitous, that every individual, of whatever rank or distinction, might with
you equally enjoy the blessings thereof ; neither could you rest satisfied short
of the most active effusion of your exertions, in order to their promotion from
any state Sir, I freely and cheerfully acknowledge, that I am of the African race, and
in that color which is natural to them of the deepest dye ; and it is under a
sense of the most profound gratitude to the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, that
I now confess to you, that I am not under that state of tyrannical thraldom, and
inhuman captivity, to which too many of my brethren are doomed, but that I have
abundantly tasted of the fruition of those blessings, which proceed from that
free and unequalled liberty with which you are favored ; and which, I hope, you
will willingly allow you have mercifully received, from the immediate hand of
that Being, from whom proceedeth every good and perfect Gift. Sir, suffer me to recal to your mind that time, in which the arms and tyranny
of the British crown were exerted, with every powerful effort, in order to
reduce you to a state of servitude : look back, I entreat you, on the variety of
dangers to which you were exposed ; reflect on that time, in which every human
aid appeared unavailable, and This, Sir, was a time when you cleary saw into the injustice of a state of
slavery, and in which you had just apprehensions of the horrors of its
condition. It was now that your abhorrence thereof was so excited, that you
publicly held forth this true and invaluable doctrine, which is worthy to be
recorded and remembered in all succeeding ages : ``We hold these truths to be
self-evident, that all men are created equal ; that they are endowed by their
Creator with certain unalienable rights, and that among these are, life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.'' Here was a time, in which your tender
feelings for yourselves had engaged you thus to declare, you were then impressed
with proper ideas of the great violation of liberty, and the free 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 those narrow prejudices which you have imbibed
with respect to them, and as Job proposed to his friends, ``put your soul in
their souls' stead ;'' thus shall your hearts be enlarged with kindness and
benevolence towards them ; and thus shall This calculation is the production of my arduous study, in this my advanced
stage of life ; for having long had unbounded desires to become acquainted with
the secrets of nature, I have had to gratify my curiosity herein, through my own
assiduous application to Astronomical Study, in which I need not recount to you
the many difficulties and disadvantages, which I have had to encounter. And although I had almost declined to make my calculation for the ensuing
year, in And now, Sir, I shall conclude, and subscribe myself, with the most profound
respect, I THANK you, sincerely, for your letter of the 19th instant, and for
the Almanac it contained. No body wishes more than I do, to see such proofs as
you exhibit, that nature has given to our black brethren talents equal to those
of the other colors of men ; and that the appearance of the want of them, is
owing merely to the degraded condition of their existence, both in Africa and
America. I can add with truth, that no body wishes more ardently to see a good
system commenced, for raising the condition, both of their body and mind, to
what it ought to be, as far as the imbecility of their present existence, and
other circumstances, which cannot be neglected, will admit. I have taken the liberty of sending your Almanac to Monsieur de Condozett,
Secretary of the I am with great esteem, Sir, Your most obedient Humble Servant,
Your most obedient humble servant,
BENJAMIN BANNEKER.
To Mr. BENJAMIN BANNEKER.
SIR,
Philadelphia, August 30, 1791.
