The Spread Of Slavery In America

Benjamin Banneker, the son of former slaves, wrote to Thomas Jefferson in 1791 to argue against slavery and that the freedom and tranquility we enjoy is a blessing from heaven. The author uses quotes, diction and rhetorical questions to develop and support his claims. Banneker’s purpose is to get Thomas Jefferson to consider the morals of slavery. The intended audience is Thomas Jefferson and any other government official who reads this letter. To begin, Banneker uses an intricate choice of words to express how unhappy he is with slavery and those who allow it.

Beginning in the eighteenth century, a collection of thirteen fledgling British colonies were undergoing immense changes while struggling with the divisive institution of slavery. Their brutally enforced labor became invaluable in agricultural areas and their population grew, often becoming the majority of many counties in the south. Looking back at this barbaric practice, it would seem inevitable slaves would frequently push back against their bondage through violent protests and uprisings. Author Peter Charles Hoffer’s book, Cry Liberty: The Great Stono River Slave Rebellion of 1739 takes a closer look at such an event. He argues that despite the mainstream view of the rebellion, its origin was not one of premeditated revolt.

A group of Africans from the same province realized that the white colonists are facing a similar problem just tike the slaves. The white colonists were protesting how King George’s III policies enslaved them. African slaves asked the white colonists to grant freedom to all slaves since their fighting for the same freedom from the British. This letter hints at an injustice system by how white colonists were threatened to be slaves by the British and started protesting while they owned slaves themselves. This letter shows how just unequal African slaves were seen compared to the white colonists.

Benjamin Banneker hopes to bring the horrors of slavery to Thomas Jefferson’s attention and potentially end slavery. He accomplishes this with his logical organization of his essay, appeals to pathos and ethos, comparisons, flattery, positive and negative diction, allusions, examples, parallelism, and a call-to-action. Banneker respectfully reminds Thomas Jefferson of how horrible it was under Great Britain’s “tyranny” and compares this to slavery. By comparing the suffering in slavery to the suffering the U.S. endured under Great Britain. Banneker addresses Thomas Jefferson as “sir” and compliments him, building him up.

The year is 1791. A time of immense controversy over the ownership of slaves divided the country. During this time Benjamin Banneker writes to the Declaration’s framer Thomas Jefferson on his outrage on this issue. With great effectiveness, Banneker uses rhetorical strategies of emotional appeal and contrasting the men’s two lives to argue his stand on slavery.

When viewing the history of slavery in America, it becomes clear that violence toward slaves was truly a horrific kind of glue binding together the social construct of slave societies. The role of violence in a slave society can be more clearly understood by an examination of a several rebellions throughout history. Specifically, the rebellions of Gabriel Prosser, Nat Turner, and Denmark Vessey. A closer look at these rebellions gives insight into how violence controlled the dynamic of slave societies.

Since Banneker is arguing slavery, he recalls Britain’s hold on the colonies. He asks Jefferson to recall “the Arms and tyranny of the British Crown were exerted with powerful effort, in order to reduce you to a State of Servitude.” The State of Servitude Banneker is recalling strengthens his argument to Jefferson that the slavery of African Americans remains equal to Britain’s hold on

The institution of slavery has been regarded as a period of injustice, discrimination, and oppression. African Americans have not only been deprived of their human rights, but have faced physical and mental abuse from the hands of those in power. Several advocates, including the son of slaves and ambitious intellectual Benjamin Banneker, have deemed the enslavement of people as a shameful action enacted by the government. Within his letter to Thomas Jefferson, Banneker brings attention to how Jefferson had acknowledged the immoral conditions brought upon the slaves, yet he had implemented no actions to bring an end to the enslavement of his people. In order to convey to Jefferson in an effective matter, Banneker utilizes a demanding tone and an appeal to emotion to enhance his argument.

During the 18th and 19th century a lot was changing in the Colonies but, one constant during a crazy time in American history was the idea of liberty. Freedom meant that you were able to choose where you wanted to live, work, and speak your mind when you wanted to, without fear of a strict government coming down on you for it. The people of America wanted to be able to feel free but have a government there to protect them and Britain was not allowing the colonies to feel free or represented. In this paper I will talk about two excerpts In the Voices of Freedom by Eric Foner. One is a letter written back home from a German immigrant who is now living in Pennsylvania.

In contrasts, loyalists did not even expected of what kind of conditions they would face soon in the hands of the King. Because of their loyalty to the king, some were dismayed and some were just contented of what they had gone through. Some of these loyalists were force to be servant in the King’s territory as part of their loyalty to him. They felt the life of the African-Americans slavery during those times. Most of these loyalists could not go to different states in America because of what they are withholding with the king of Britain.

Since the number of Africans far outweighed English servants, the English dominant sought to take advantage of this and in 1662 passed an act that racialized slavery by defining it as a status inherited “according to the condition of the mother.” In January 1639/40, Act X passed stating, “All persons except negroes to be provided with arms and ammunition or be fined at pleasure of the Governor and Council” giving us one of many documented acts of how racial freedom was affected. In this essay, I

By using this reference, it illustrated the severity of the alienation of blacks in the Southern United States. In 1619, a Dutch ship “introduced the first captured Africans to America, planting the seeds of a slavery system that evolved into a nightmare of abuse and cruelty that would ultimately divide the nation”. The Africans were not treated humanely, but were treated as workers with no rights. Originally, they were to work for poor white families for seven years and receive land and freedom in return. As the colonies prospered, the colonists did not want to give up their workers and in 1641, slavery was legalized.

Lillian Goldman Law Library Foner, Eric. Chapter 4: Slavery, Freedom, And The Struggle for Empire. Give Me Liberty! 4th ed. N.p.:

From this, derives a bond with the reader that pushes their understanding of the evil nature of slavery that society deemed appropriate therefore enhancing their understanding of history. While only glossed over in most classroom settings of the twenty-first century, students often neglect the sad but true reality that the backbone of slavery, was the dehumanization of an entire race of people. To create a group of individuals known for their extreme oppression derived from slavery, required plantation owner’s of the South to constantly embedded certain values into the lives of their slaves. To talk back means to be whipped.

Benjamin Banneker, the son of former slaves, wrote a letter to Thomas Jefferson to argue against slavery. Banneker was an educated man, he was an astronomer, mathematician, surveyor, author, and farmer, yet, Jefferson had not known this information. Banneker makes his argument through the use of allusion, diction, and repetition, which causes Banneker to seem reliable and have intelligence. To remind Jefferson of his own subjugation, Banneker alludes to the British Crown. “..British Crown were exerted with every powerful effort in order to reduce you to a State of Servitude.”