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Benjamin Banneker |
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Banneker, Benjamin (b. November 9, 1731, Baltimore County, Md.; d. October 9, 1806, Baltimore, Md.), African American self-taught astronomer and mathematician who built a clock out of wood, planned the survey for the establishment of the city Washington, D.C., and published important almanacs.In the eighteenth century, clocks and watches were rare devices constructed in metal by skilled artisans. At the age of 22, Benjamin Banneker created a working clock from wood after studying the watch of a friend. Having no metal at his disposal, he meticulously carved each component from wood with a pocketknife. It took him two years to finish the clock. Banneker's wooden clock kept accurate time in hours, minutes, and seconds until his death. Banneker employed his knowledge of astronomy and mathematics to help plan the city of Washington, D.C. He became interested in astronomy through a local surveyor named George Ellicott, who loaned him astronomy books. In February 1791, George Washington commissioned George Ellicott and French engineer Pierre L'Enfant to help plan the construction of the nation's capital on a ten-sq mi area of land in Virginia and Maryland. Ellicott invited Banneker to be his assistant. A dispute between some Americans and Frenchmen on the project led L'Enfant to abandon it and take the drafted plans with him. Over the course of two days, Banneker reproduced the intricate plans from memory, preventing a major delay. For this reason, some historians refer to Banneker as "The Man Who Saved Washington, D.C."Shortly after returning to his farm in April 1791, Banneker issued his first of some ten annual almanacs, which were published by several printers and sold widely in both England and the United States. Banneker charted the movement of heavenly bodies and successfully predicted several solar eclipses. Farmers and navigators relied on this important information. In addition, Banneker reproduced road maps, conversion charts, and literature in his almanacs. On August 19, 1791, Banneker sent a copy of his first almanac to Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State under President George Washington, in an effort to dispute Jefferson's belief that blacks were intellectually inferior to whites and in order to protest slavery. Jefferson congratulated Banneker on his publication and expressed his wish for more proof "that nature has given to our [black] brethren talents equal to that of other colors of men." Furthermore, Jefferson forwarded a copy of Banneker's almanac to the Academy of Sciences in Paris, one of the leading scientific societies in the world during the eighteenth century.Banneker was one of several children born to Robert, a freed slave from Guinea, and Mary Banneker. Mary's mother, Molly Welsh, came to the American colonies as an indentured servant from England and later married one of her slaves, an African of royal descent named Bannaka or Banneky. Banneker and his sisters were born free and grew up on a self-sufficient, 100-acre tobacco farm. He took over the farm after his father's death in 1759.Banneker received the equivalent of an eighth-grade
education at a local integrated school and was also tutored by his
grandmother. Growing up, he spent much of his free time devising and
solving mathetical puzzles. It was not until after his retirement from
farming at the age of 59 that Banneker began to study astronomy through
borrowed books, becoming a man of science and mathematics through
unassisted experimentation and close observation of natural phenomena. |
| Reference: Encarta Africana, http://library.thinkquest.org/3337/banneker.html |
| Constructed By: Kimberly Williams |
