Benjamin Banneker
![Benjamin Banneker, from the title page of "Benjamin Bannaker's [sic] Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia Almanac, for the Year of Our Lord 1795" (Maryland Historical Society)](/sites/default/files/styles/hero_2x/public/2023-10/ms2700_banneker2RET.png.webp?itok=NnccQ3LT)
Benjamin Banneker, from the title page of "Benjamin Bannaker's [sic] Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia Almanac, for the Year of Our Lord 1795" (Maryland Historical Society)
Born into a free black family in Maryland, Benjamin Banneker (1731–1806) was the leading African American intellectual of the founding era. He excelled as an astronomer, mathematician, almanac compiler, and city planner for the layout of Washington, DC.
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Benjamin Banneker’s Letter to Thomas Jefferson
Christopher Jackson reads Benjamin Banneker’s letter pointing out Jefferson’s hypocrisy in advocating freedom while holding people in slavery.
