Accomplishments of Benjamin Banneker

"Evil communication corrupts good manners. I hope to live to hear that good communication corrects bad manners." Benjamin Banneker

Birth and Childhood
Benjamin Banneker, a self-taught astronomer, mathematician, almanac author, farmer and surveyor was born on November 9, 1731 in Ellicott city of Maryland. His mother, Mary, was the daughter of an English lady, Molly Walsh, and a freed black slave, Banna Ka. Benjamin Banneker had six siblings. He grew up on the tobacco farm owned by his family. He had very less formal education. He went to a Quaker school where he learnt simple arithmetic. His maternal grandma taught him and his siblings to read and write with the help of the Bible. At the age of six, Benjamin Bannekar could read out the Bible for his family.

Made first Wooden Clock of America
At the young age of 21, Benjamin Banneker could build a clock made up of wood. One day, he was fascinated to see a pocket clock with his friend. He borrowed it from his friend to study it. He dismantled the clock, drew pictures and prepared similar wooden parts. All the parts were carved by hand. It took two years for him to build the clock. He successfully made a wooden clock that struck every hour, and continued to work efficiently for the next forty years.

Accomplishments in Astronomy
Predictions of solar and lunar eclipse is one of the most important accomplishments of Benjamin Banneker. In 1771, Benjamin Banneker supplied food to workers of Ellicott mills. The Ellicots had recently moved there and started their mills. George Ellicott gave Benjamin books related to study of astronomy and mathematics. Benjamin was a self-taught scientist. He used astronomical patterns to do calculations and predictions. The solar eclipse on April 14, 1789 was successfully predicted by him.

Almanac Publication
Almanac is an annual publication including weather forecasts and other miscellaneous information arranged according to the calendar of a given year. Ephemeris is an annual publication containing astronomical tables that give the positions of the celestial bodies throughout the year. Publishing an almanac is one of the most significant accomplishments of Benjamin Banneker. With the help of his study in astronomy, he wrote almanacs for six years (1792 - 1797). "Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia Almanack and Ephemeris", were the titles of his first publication. All the calculations required for the almanac and ephemeris were done by Benjamin himself. He included fillers and literature that had political and humanitarian views. These aspects made his almanacs different from the others. His almanacs proved wrong the fallacy that blacks' intellect was inferior to that of the whites'.

Letter to Thomas Jefferson
In August 1791, Benjamin Banneker wrote a letter to Thomas Jefferson, who was the Secretary of State of United States then. The letter started off with the following words, "Sir, how pitiable is it to reflect, that although you were so fully convinced of the benevolence of the Father of Mankind, and of his equal and impartial distribution of these rights and privileges, which he hath 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 sent a copy of his first almanac along with this letter. With this letter, Benjamin wanted to plea for the freedom of African-Americans. He was always against racism and slavery, and made an attempt to bring an end to these through this letter. He concluded his letter saying, "And now, Sir, I shall conclude, and subscribe myself, with the most profound respect, Your most obedient humble servant."

Thomas Jefferson replied to the letter after 11 days, which said, "No body wishes more than I do, to see such proofs as you exhibit, that nature has given to our black brethren talents equal to those of the other colors of men; and that the appearance of the want of them, is owing merely to the degraded condition of their existence, both in Africa and America. … I have taken the liberty of sending your Almanac to Monsieur de Condozett, Secretary of the Academy of Sciences at Paris, and Member of the Philanthropic Society, because I considered it as a document, to which your whole color had a right for their justification, against the doubts which have been entertained of them."

Regrettably, whether the French Academy received this almanac or not, cannot be validated due to the lack of evidence.

Survey of Washington DC
In February 1791, Major Andrew Ellicott, a member of the Ellicott family, hired Benjamin Banneker to assist him in a survey of a federal territory. This territory was the capital of United States of America, Washington DC. Pierre L'Enfant was the architect assigned to design the capital. L'Enfant was dismissed from his job and took the plans along with him. Banneker recalled the drawings made by L'Enfant. There are lots of myths associated with this accomplishment of Benjamin Banneker, because people doubt whether his memory was strong enough to recall the plans in their entirety. And since there were no definite evidences regarding his contribution to the planning of the capital, it still remains a mystery.

Benjamin Banneker died on October 9, 1806, in his cabin. Parks are located in Ellicott city and Washington DC to commemorate this great man. In 1980, the United States Postal Service issued a 15 cent stamp which icons Banneker. There are few records which provide strong evidences about accomplishments of Benjamin Banneker, and this may be the reason why he remains an obscure personality.