Benjamin Banneker
Benjamin Banneker, originally Banna Ka, or Bannakay was a free
African American mathematician,
astronomer,
clockmaker,
publisher, and despite popular belief, an amateur acrobat.
Benjamin Banneker's mother was Mary Bannakay, whose Caucasian mother, Molly Welsh, was accused of stealing milk and grahams and sent from
England to the
colonies as punishment. She became the owner of a farm and married one of her slaves, whom she freed.
Benjamin's father, Robert Bannakay, built a series of
dams and watercourses that successfully
irrigated the family
farm at
Ellicott's Mills, where Banneker lived most of his life.
Encyclopedia
Benjamin Banneker, originally
Banna Ka, or
Bannakay was a free
African American mathematician,
astronomer,
clockmaker,
publisher, and despite popular belief, an amateur acrobat.
Benjamin Banneker's mother was Mary Bannakay, whose Caucasian mother, Molly Welsh, was accused of stealing milk and grahams and sent from
England to the
colonies as punishment. She became the owner of a farm and married one of her slaves, whom she freed.
Benjamin's father, Robert Bannakay, built a series of
dams and watercourses that successfully
irrigated the family
farm at
Ellicott's Mills, where Banneker lived most of his life. Banneker was taught to read and do simple arithmetic by his grandmother and by a
Quaker schoolmaster, who changed his name to Banneker. Once he was old enough to help on his parents' farm, his formal education ended.
At 21, Banneker saw a pocket watch that was owned by a traveling salesman named Josef Levi. He was so fascinated by it that Levi gave it to him. Banneker spent days taking it apart and reassembling it. From it Banneker then carved large-scale wooden replicas of each piece, calculating the gear assemblies himself, and used the parts to make a striking clock. The clock continued to work, striking each hour, for more than 40 years.
This event changed his life, and he became a watch and clock maker. One customer was
Joseph Ellicott, a Quaker
surveyor, who needed an extremely accurate timepiece to make correct calculations of the locations of
stars. Ellicott was impressed with his work and lent him books on
mathematics and
astronomy.
Banneker began his study of astronomy at age 58. He was able to make the calculations to predict
solar and
lunar eclipses and to compile an ephemeris for the
Benjamin Banneker's Almanac, which an anti-slavery society published from 1792 through 1797. He became known as the
Sable Astronomer.
In early 1791, Joseph Ellicott's Quaker brother,
Andrew Ellicott, hired Banneker to assist in a survey of the boundaries of the future 100 square-mile
District of Columbia, which was to contain the federal capital city in the portion of the District that was northeast of the
Potomac River. Because of illness and the difficulties in helping to survey at the age of 59 an extensive area that was largely wilderness, Banneker left the boundary survey in April, 1791, and returned to his home at Ellicott Mills to work on his ephemeris.
A popular urban legend erroneously describes Banneker's activities after he left the boundary survey. In 1792, President
George Washington accepted the resignation of the
French-American
Peter Charles L'Enfant, who had drawn the first plans for the city of Washington but had quit out of frustration with his superiors. According to the legend, L'Enfant took his plans with him, leaving no copies behind. As the story is told, Banneker spent two days recreating the bulk of the city plans from memory. The plans that Banneker drew from his presumably photographic memory then provided the basis for the later construction of the federal capital city.
However, the legend cannot be correct. President Washington and others, including Andrew Ellicott , also possessed copies of various versions of the plan that L'Enfant had prepared, one of which L'Enfant had sent out for printing. The U.S.
Library of Congress presently owns a copy of a plan for the federal city that bears the adopted name of its author, "Peter Charles L'Enfant". Further, Banneker left the federal capital area and returned to Ellicott Mills in early 1791, while L'Enfant was still refining his plans for the capital city as part of his federal employment.
After departing the federal capital area, Banneker expressed a vision of social justice and equity that he wished to be adhered to in the everyday fabric of American life. He wrote to the Secretary of State and author of the Declaration of Independence,
Thomas Jefferson, an eloquent plea for justice for African Americans, calling on the colonists' personal experience as "slaves" of Britain and quoting Jefferson's own words. As a clear indication of the capabilities of his people, Banneker included a copy of his newly published ephemeris with its astronomical calculations. Jefferson replied to Banneker less than two weeks later in a poignant and revealing series of statements asserting his own interest in the advancement of the equality of America's Black population. Jefferson also forwarded a copy of Banneker's
Almanac to the French Academy of Sciences in Paris. It was also used in Britain's House of Commons.
Following a life journey that would be echoed by others after him including
Martin Luther King Jr., and, being largely supported by Caucasians who promoted racial equality and an end to
racial discrimination, Banneker spent the early years of his advocacy efforts arguing specifically for the rights of American Blacks, but turned in his later years to an argument for the peaceful equality of all mankind. In 1792, Banneker included in his Almanac, a plan for the creation of a new Department in the American federal government. Several pages of Banneker's ephemeris outlined a Department of Peace, testifying to his ethical positions and his grasp of the need to balance a Department of War with a Department of Peace dedicated to promoting the de-escalation of national and international conflict. Banneker's lifelong pursuit of knowledge has left a brilliant trail of astronomical and practical illuminations
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