Jefferson Responds
to Banneker
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) to
Benjamin Banneker
Letterpress copy, August 30, 1791
Enlarged
Manuscript Division
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Thomas Jefferson, secretary of state in the first
federal government and one of Virginia's largest planters and
slave holders, wrote this letter to Benjamin Banneker in response
to a letter that argued strongly for an end to slavery. In it
Banneker had enclosed a manuscript copy of the mathematical calculations
for his 1792 almanac. Jefferson's polite response expresses his
ambivalent feelings about slavery and the native abilities of
black individuals.
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Library of Congress
