Read the passage.
excerpt from Benjamin Banneker's letter to Thomas Jefferson
Benjamin Banneker was a free man descended from enslaved Africans . In his letter to Thomas Jefferson, the Secretary of State, Banneker condemned enslavement and attempted to persuade Jefferson to end the practice of enslavement in the United States.
Sir I freely and Chearfully acknowledge, that I am of the African race, and in that colour 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 favoured and which I hope you will willingly allow you have received from the immediate hand of that Being, from whom proceedeth every good and perfect gift.…
This Sir, was a time in which you clearly 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 Sir, that your abhorrence thereof was so excited, that you publickly held forth this true and invaluable doctrine, which is worthy to be recorded and remember'd in all Succeeding ages. "We hold these truths to be Self evident, that all men are created equal, and that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happyness."
Here Sir, was a time in which your tender feelings for your selves had engaged you thus to declare, you were then impressed with proper ideas of the great valuation of liberty, and the free possession of those blessings to which you were entitled by nature; but Sir how pitiable is it to reflect, that altho you were so fully convinced of the benevolence of the Father of mankind, and of his equal and impartial distribution of those rights and privileges which he had conferred upon them, that you should at the Same time counteract his mercies, in detaining by fraud and violence so numerous a part of my brethren under groaning captivity and cruel oppression, that you should at the Same time be found guilty of that most criminal act, which you professedly detested in others, with respect to yourselves....
BENJAMIN BANNEKER
Question
What is a central claim of Benjamin Banneker's letter to Thomas Jefferson?
Responses
Former slaves should be allowed a more prominent role in government.
Former slaves should be allowed a more prominent role in government.
It is logical and fair to grant "unalienable rights" to individuals who have escaped from slavery.
It is logical and fair to grant "unalienable rights" to individuals who have escaped from slavery.
It is hypocritical to state that "all men are created equal" in a country that permits slavery.
It is hypocritical to state that "all men are created equal" in a country that permits slavery.
The only way to end slavery is with criminal acts and violent rebellion.