1 00:00:02,400 --> 00:00:06,400 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday. We mentioned Benjamin Banneker in our New Year's 2 00:00:06,480 --> 00:00:10,160 Speaker 1: Day episode on Almanacs and day Planners, and our episode 3 00:00:10,280 --> 00:00:13,200 Speaker 1: on him is from early in our time as hosts 4 00:00:13,240 --> 00:00:16,320 Speaker 1: of the show. It came out on June tenth, twenty thirteen, 5 00:00:16,680 --> 00:00:20,120 Speaker 1: and it is Today's Saturday Classic, and it's also connected 6 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:23,560 Speaker 1: to our most recent episodes. Among other things, we talk 7 00:00:23,640 --> 00:00:27,080 Speaker 1: about some arrangements Banniker made for his later years using 8 00:00:27,120 --> 00:00:33,960 Speaker 1: information from actuarial tables. So enjoy Welcome to Stuff You 9 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:43,879 Speaker 1: Missed in History Class, a production of iHeartRadio. Hello, and 10 00:00:44,040 --> 00:00:47,199 Speaker 1: welcome to the podcast. I am Tracy V. Wilson and 11 00:00:47,240 --> 00:00:49,480 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Frying, and today we're going to talk about 12 00:00:49,479 --> 00:00:53,159 Speaker 1: a particularly amazing person in American history, and that is 13 00:00:53,400 --> 00:00:56,760 Speaker 1: Benjamin Banneker. Yes, who is someone I had not known 14 00:00:56,800 --> 00:00:59,560 Speaker 1: very much about before we started this little project. I'm 15 00:00:59,680 --> 00:01:02,400 Speaker 1: not I had not either, and I learned a whole 16 00:01:02,400 --> 00:01:05,520 Speaker 1: lot of fascinating stuff. There's really a lot that was 17 00:01:05,640 --> 00:01:10,640 Speaker 1: particularly amazing about his life. He had almost no official schooling, 18 00:01:10,760 --> 00:01:12,760 Speaker 1: but he turned out to be such a scholar that 19 00:01:12,800 --> 00:01:18,080 Speaker 1: today there are schools and professorships and educational foundations and 20 00:01:18,120 --> 00:01:21,240 Speaker 1: things like that named after him. He and his family 21 00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:25,480 Speaker 1: made up a really small handful of the about two 22 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:28,840 Speaker 1: hundred free African Americans who were living in Maryland at 23 00:01:28,840 --> 00:01:32,240 Speaker 1: the time, where there were at that point about four 24 00:01:32,280 --> 00:01:36,520 Speaker 1: thousand slaves and thirteen thousand white people. And he lived 25 00:01:36,520 --> 00:01:39,160 Speaker 1: in an age when African Americans were really considered to 26 00:01:39,200 --> 00:01:43,000 Speaker 1: be inferior to white people and incapable of scholarly thought. 27 00:01:43,640 --> 00:01:47,640 Speaker 1: But he managed, in spite of that existing perception to 28 00:01:47,680 --> 00:01:51,080 Speaker 1: publish a series of really well respected almanacs. And he 29 00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:53,680 Speaker 1: was appointed by George Washington to help survey the land 30 00:01:53,720 --> 00:01:58,040 Speaker 1: that would eventually become Washington, d c. Which is really cool. Yeah, 31 00:01:58,160 --> 00:02:00,560 Speaker 1: And it all started when he was born on November 32 00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:03,760 Speaker 1: ninth in seventeen thirty one in Maryland. He has a 33 00:02:03,760 --> 00:02:07,400 Speaker 1: pretty interesting family history. His maternal grandmother was an English 34 00:02:07,480 --> 00:02:11,560 Speaker 1: woman named Molly Walsh or Welsh, it differs depending on 35 00:02:11,800 --> 00:02:15,320 Speaker 1: Here's account you're looking at. She had been falsely convicted 36 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:18,519 Speaker 1: of stealing milk. The bucket had really been kicked over 37 00:02:18,560 --> 00:02:20,880 Speaker 1: by a cow. But she was sent to Maryland as 38 00:02:20,880 --> 00:02:24,720 Speaker 1: an indentured servant, and once she had completed her indenture, 39 00:02:24,840 --> 00:02:27,959 Speaker 1: she borrowed some money to rent a farm or rent 40 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:32,840 Speaker 1: some land to start a farm, and she bought two slaves. 41 00:02:33,480 --> 00:02:36,200 Speaker 1: One of the slaves was known as Banicky, whose name 42 00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:39,240 Speaker 1: had originally been Banna as one word in Ka the 43 00:02:39,280 --> 00:02:41,880 Speaker 1: second word, and who had been a chief or a 44 00:02:41,960 --> 00:02:44,960 Speaker 1: king before being enslaved. And once she had paid off 45 00:02:44,960 --> 00:02:48,040 Speaker 1: all her debts, Molly actually freed both the slaves in 46 00:02:48,240 --> 00:02:51,920 Speaker 1: sixteen ninety six and she married Banickee. This marriage was 47 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:54,639 Speaker 1: illegal in Maryland, so this was a lot of really 48 00:02:54,720 --> 00:02:58,960 Speaker 1: astounding events happening around the beginning of his family, right 49 00:02:59,200 --> 00:03:02,480 Speaker 1: or just completely usual for the time. One of Mollie 50 00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:06,080 Speaker 1: and Banickee's children was a daughter named Mary, and Mary 51 00:03:06,200 --> 00:03:08,920 Speaker 1: eventually when she grew up, purchased her own slave, who 52 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:12,200 Speaker 1: had been named Robert when he was baptized. He was 53 00:03:12,200 --> 00:03:14,760 Speaker 1: from the region of Africa that was known at the 54 00:03:14,800 --> 00:03:18,200 Speaker 1: time as Guinea, and that most likely was somewhere in 55 00:03:18,240 --> 00:03:22,680 Speaker 1: the stretch of Africa that spans west to east from 56 00:03:22,720 --> 00:03:28,080 Speaker 1: Ghana to Nigeria. Like her mother, Mollie later freed and 57 00:03:28,120 --> 00:03:31,200 Speaker 1: married Robert, and when she did, he took her last name. 58 00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:34,840 Speaker 1: So it's a little bit unclear how exactly the last 59 00:03:34,880 --> 00:03:38,920 Speaker 1: name morphed into Banneker, but Mary and Robert had four children, 60 00:03:39,800 --> 00:03:43,200 Speaker 1: Benjamin and then his three younger sisters, and at some 61 00:03:43,280 --> 00:03:45,200 Speaker 1: point they were all going by the name Banniker and 62 00:03:45,280 --> 00:03:50,200 Speaker 1: not Banickee anymore. Yes, Benjamin's parents bought a small tobacco 63 00:03:50,280 --> 00:03:54,280 Speaker 1: farm next to Molly and Bannicke's farm. The farm was 64 00:03:54,400 --> 00:03:58,920 Speaker 1: registered to both Benjamin and his father. Mollie taught Benjamin 65 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:01,560 Speaker 1: to read using the Bible, and he actually went to 66 00:04:01,600 --> 00:04:04,360 Speaker 1: an interracial Quaker school for boys for a little while 67 00:04:04,400 --> 00:04:07,560 Speaker 1: when he was young, but he didn't get much formal education. 68 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:10,200 Speaker 1: As Tracy mentioned at the top of the podcast, the 69 00:04:10,240 --> 00:04:12,560 Speaker 1: school was only open in the winters, and so it 70 00:04:12,600 --> 00:04:15,840 Speaker 1: wasn't like a regular full time, year round school, and 71 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:18,559 Speaker 1: it really was only available for lessons when the boys 72 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:22,520 Speaker 1: weren't needed to help their families on the farms. So 73 00:04:22,839 --> 00:04:26,560 Speaker 1: even though he really had not much formal education at all, 74 00:04:26,600 --> 00:04:29,719 Speaker 1: he had a very avid interest in learning, and he 75 00:04:29,800 --> 00:04:33,440 Speaker 1: was especially interested in math and mechanics, and so he 76 00:04:33,520 --> 00:04:37,479 Speaker 1: wound up teaching himself. Almost his whole education was self taught, 77 00:04:37,560 --> 00:04:40,919 Speaker 1: and in addition to the mechanical and mathematic things that 78 00:04:40,960 --> 00:04:43,960 Speaker 1: he really delved into, he also studied the stars and 79 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:47,039 Speaker 1: taught himself astronomy, and he also learned to play the 80 00:04:47,080 --> 00:04:49,480 Speaker 1: flute and the violin, which kind of blows my mind 81 00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:52,160 Speaker 1: because picking up a musical instrument and learning how to 82 00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:54,719 Speaker 1: play it is quite a feat, yeah, of itself, even 83 00:04:54,720 --> 00:04:56,919 Speaker 1: if you have lessons well. And picking up things like 84 00:04:56,960 --> 00:05:00,640 Speaker 1: complex mathematics and the kinds of calculations that are required 85 00:05:00,720 --> 00:05:04,480 Speaker 1: for astronomy without really having someone to help you along 86 00:05:04,720 --> 00:05:11,040 Speaker 1: is also pretty astounding. Yeah. When he was fifteen, Benjamin 87 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:13,480 Speaker 1: took over the family farm, and one of the things 88 00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:15,839 Speaker 1: that he did was he designed and built an irrigation 89 00:05:15,960 --> 00:05:18,560 Speaker 1: system to divert water from a spring that was nearby 90 00:05:18,600 --> 00:05:20,760 Speaker 1: to their crops, so he was able to keep the 91 00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:23,800 Speaker 1: crops alive even when there were droughts going on. And 92 00:05:23,880 --> 00:05:26,839 Speaker 1: he also used crop rotation techniques that weren't really in 93 00:05:26,880 --> 00:05:30,840 Speaker 1: common practice at the time. And as an adult, Benjamin 94 00:05:30,880 --> 00:05:34,000 Speaker 1: generally wore Quaker style clothing, so he stuck pretty much 95 00:05:34,040 --> 00:05:38,039 Speaker 1: to simple dark jackets and white shirts. And although he 96 00:05:38,120 --> 00:05:41,080 Speaker 1: had some affinity for the Quakers, he never actually joined. 97 00:05:41,560 --> 00:05:44,280 Speaker 1: He just kind of emulated them in his style. Right. 98 00:05:44,920 --> 00:05:48,400 Speaker 1: Here's a description of him from an eighteen fifty four 99 00:05:48,480 --> 00:05:52,880 Speaker 1: sketch of his life Banneker, whilst in the vigor of manhood, 100 00:05:52,960 --> 00:05:56,400 Speaker 1: was an industrious and thriving farmer. He kept his grounds 101 00:05:56,400 --> 00:05:59,760 Speaker 1: in good order, had horses, cows, and many hives of bees, 102 00:06:00,279 --> 00:06:04,440 Speaker 1: cultivated a good garden, and lived comfortably during the winter 103 00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:07,800 Speaker 1: months and at other seasons of leisure. His active mind 104 00:06:07,880 --> 00:06:10,680 Speaker 1: was employed in improving the knowledge he had gained at school. 105 00:06:11,120 --> 00:06:14,600 Speaker 1: He thus became acquainted with the most difficult portions of arithmetic. 106 00:06:15,040 --> 00:06:17,599 Speaker 1: He also read all the books on general literature that 107 00:06:17,680 --> 00:06:21,080 Speaker 1: he could borrow, and occasionally diverted his mind with an 108 00:06:21,240 --> 00:06:26,440 Speaker 1: ingenious effort in mechanics. That's kind of like a It's 109 00:06:26,480 --> 00:06:28,520 Speaker 1: so quaint you would think it was out of fiction. 110 00:06:29,240 --> 00:06:41,200 Speaker 1: I didn't know it was an actual humans, the real person. Yeah. 111 00:06:41,360 --> 00:06:43,800 Speaker 1: So when he was twenty two, he actually made a clock. 112 00:06:44,480 --> 00:06:46,839 Speaker 1: He had seen a pocket watch belonging to a friend. 113 00:06:47,520 --> 00:06:49,400 Speaker 1: We're not sure on the pronunciation of the last name. 114 00:06:49,440 --> 00:06:53,120 Speaker 1: It could be Joseph Levy or Levi, But Benjamin had 115 00:06:53,160 --> 00:06:56,440 Speaker 1: been completely fascinated with this watch, and so Joseph actually 116 00:06:56,520 --> 00:06:59,640 Speaker 1: let him take it apart, and so Benjamin sketched out 117 00:06:59,640 --> 00:07:02,039 Speaker 1: all the opponents and put the watch back together in 118 00:07:02,120 --> 00:07:05,960 Speaker 1: working order, and then used that experiential learning to make 119 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:09,000 Speaker 1: a clock from scratch. So today this probably doesn't sound 120 00:07:09,040 --> 00:07:13,240 Speaker 1: like a giant deal because clocks are ubiquitous, but at 121 00:07:13,240 --> 00:07:15,560 Speaker 1: the time, nearly all of the clocks in the United 122 00:07:15,600 --> 00:07:18,360 Speaker 1: States were imported from England. There wasn't really anyone in 123 00:07:18,400 --> 00:07:21,920 Speaker 1: the US who was making clocks. And Benjamin's clock was 124 00:07:21,960 --> 00:07:25,240 Speaker 1: made entirely out of wood, apart from an iron bell 125 00:07:25,320 --> 00:07:28,080 Speaker 1: that he got that was struck hourly, and this clock 126 00:07:28,200 --> 00:07:30,800 Speaker 1: ran for more than forty years, keeping good time that 127 00:07:31,040 --> 00:07:34,840 Speaker 1: entire time until the day that Benjamin was buried after 128 00:07:34,880 --> 00:07:37,240 Speaker 1: his death when his home in all of its contents, 129 00:07:37,280 --> 00:07:42,040 Speaker 1: burned in a fire. So, based on the watch he 130 00:07:42,080 --> 00:07:45,160 Speaker 1: had seen and taken apart one time, he made a 131 00:07:45,280 --> 00:07:49,960 Speaker 1: working wooden clock that kept time for forty years. Worked. Well. Yes, 132 00:07:51,720 --> 00:07:54,280 Speaker 1: like you said, it seems simple because clocks are everywhere. 133 00:07:54,280 --> 00:07:56,480 Speaker 1: But if anyone has ever taken apart a watch, even 134 00:07:56,480 --> 00:07:59,080 Speaker 1: to replace a battery, and you lose one spring, like, 135 00:07:59,640 --> 00:08:01,600 Speaker 1: forget it, it's over. You have to go to an 136 00:08:01,640 --> 00:08:03,720 Speaker 1: expert at that point, right, So the idea that he 137 00:08:03,800 --> 00:08:05,720 Speaker 1: just took one apart, put it back together, and they went, oh, 138 00:08:05,760 --> 00:08:08,160 Speaker 1: I get it. Yeah, it's fine. Then I can make 139 00:08:08,200 --> 00:08:12,080 Speaker 1: one went forward making its own. It's really pretty impressive. Yeah. 140 00:08:12,120 --> 00:08:15,200 Speaker 1: So this clock is cited as the first striking clock 141 00:08:15,240 --> 00:08:18,960 Speaker 1: built in the United States, and he used this experience 142 00:08:19,120 --> 00:08:21,280 Speaker 1: to sort of start up a little side business or 143 00:08:21,280 --> 00:08:25,240 Speaker 1: repairing people's watches and clocks. People who came to the 144 00:08:25,320 --> 00:08:28,240 Speaker 1: area would stop by just to see the clock and 145 00:08:28,320 --> 00:08:30,920 Speaker 1: to talk to Benjamin, who by this point had developed 146 00:08:30,920 --> 00:08:35,680 Speaker 1: a reputation for being extremely intelligent but also modest and gentlemanly. 147 00:08:36,559 --> 00:08:40,720 Speaker 1: He became familiar with the Ellikotts, a family from Pennsylvania 148 00:08:40,800 --> 00:08:43,240 Speaker 1: who had built a mill and established a town not 149 00:08:43,400 --> 00:08:46,319 Speaker 1: very far from Benjamin's farm, and Benjamin had been a 150 00:08:46,360 --> 00:08:49,319 Speaker 1: frequent visitor while the mill was being built because he'd 151 00:08:49,400 --> 00:08:52,160 Speaker 1: liked to observe all the mechanics and machinery involved in 152 00:08:52,160 --> 00:08:55,960 Speaker 1: the process, and he and the Ellicotts became friends, and 153 00:08:56,080 --> 00:08:59,520 Speaker 1: eventually Georgia Ellicott loned Benjamin all manner of books in 154 00:08:59,559 --> 00:09:02,240 Speaker 1: math and astronomy, and so he now had a whole 155 00:09:02,280 --> 00:09:08,200 Speaker 1: new assortment of resources to expand his knowledge and education. Later, 156 00:09:08,400 --> 00:09:11,560 Speaker 1: he used these books, along with some tools that George 157 00:09:11,600 --> 00:09:14,560 Speaker 1: loaned to him, to predict to predict the April fourteenth, 158 00:09:14,600 --> 00:09:19,480 Speaker 1: seventeen eighty nine solar eclipse almost accurately. This is another 159 00:09:19,520 --> 00:09:23,000 Speaker 1: thing that maybe doesn't sound like a crazy accomplishment today, 160 00:09:23,040 --> 00:09:25,520 Speaker 1: because we know when all the eclipses are happening, and 161 00:09:25,520 --> 00:09:29,120 Speaker 1: we can watch them on the internet. But most of 162 00:09:29,120 --> 00:09:31,880 Speaker 1: the people who were predicting an eclipse at that point, 163 00:09:32,160 --> 00:09:36,040 Speaker 1: they were predicting that one wrong. And the almost in 164 00:09:36,160 --> 00:09:39,240 Speaker 1: his own calculations came from an error in one of 165 00:09:39,280 --> 00:09:42,960 Speaker 1: the textbooks, not from his own calculations. So he turned out, 166 00:09:42,960 --> 00:09:44,839 Speaker 1: even though he wasn't right on the money with it, 167 00:09:44,880 --> 00:09:47,280 Speaker 1: his prediction was more accurate than a lot of the 168 00:09:47,320 --> 00:09:52,600 Speaker 1: more well known astronomers had made at the time. Reportedly, 169 00:09:52,920 --> 00:09:56,720 Speaker 1: he also had theorized that Sirius was actually two stars 170 00:09:56,760 --> 00:09:58,960 Speaker 1: instead of one, which it is, but at the time 171 00:09:59,000 --> 00:10:02,600 Speaker 1: it was believed to be just one heavenly body. In 172 00:10:02,720 --> 00:10:06,400 Speaker 1: seventeen ninety, George Washington appointed Benjamin to the team that 173 00:10:06,480 --> 00:10:09,520 Speaker 1: was going to survey the federal territory which would later 174 00:10:09,559 --> 00:10:13,440 Speaker 1: become Washington, d C. And Major Andrew Ellicott was also 175 00:10:13,679 --> 00:10:18,480 Speaker 1: on the team. In writing about this, Georgetown Weekly Ledger 176 00:10:18,559 --> 00:10:22,880 Speaker 1: said quote Ellicott was attended by Benjamin Banneker, an Ethiopian 177 00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:26,840 Speaker 1: whose abilities as a surveyor and an astronomer clearly proved 178 00:10:26,840 --> 00:10:30,160 Speaker 1: that mister Jefferson's concluding that race of men were void 179 00:10:30,200 --> 00:10:34,880 Speaker 1: of mental endowments was without foundation. That mister Jefferson Jefferson, 180 00:10:34,920 --> 00:10:37,959 Speaker 1: of course, being Thomas Jefferson. Yeah, so he actually became 181 00:10:38,080 --> 00:10:42,000 Speaker 1: quite an ambassador for the non Caucasians that were living 182 00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:45,120 Speaker 1: in America at the time. Right, we'll talk about that 183 00:10:45,320 --> 00:10:47,800 Speaker 1: more and just a little bit, but we'll talk for 184 00:10:47,840 --> 00:10:51,240 Speaker 1: a moment about the survey work first. There's a story 185 00:10:51,280 --> 00:10:55,040 Speaker 1: that when Pierre Lafont left the Washington d C Project, 186 00:10:55,040 --> 00:10:57,760 Speaker 1: he took all the plans with him and then Benjamin 187 00:10:57,840 --> 00:11:01,559 Speaker 1: recreated them from memory. So modern historians think that this 188 00:11:01,640 --> 00:11:05,640 Speaker 1: is probably an embellishment. There aren't any documents at the 189 00:11:05,640 --> 00:11:08,400 Speaker 1: time that confirm it. It seems to have arisen a little 190 00:11:08,440 --> 00:11:12,400 Speaker 1: bit later. So while it's probably an apocryphal story, it 191 00:11:12,480 --> 00:11:16,120 Speaker 1: speaks to the reputation that he had developed for himself 192 00:11:16,200 --> 00:11:20,240 Speaker 1: at this point. And when Benjamin's parents passed away, they 193 00:11:20,320 --> 00:11:23,680 Speaker 1: left him the family farm, so he built himself a 194 00:11:23,720 --> 00:11:27,080 Speaker 1: cabin there where he could work, and he also had 195 00:11:27,080 --> 00:11:29,440 Speaker 1: a study and it had a skylight so he could 196 00:11:29,440 --> 00:11:33,079 Speaker 1: continue to study the stars. When he was about sixty, 197 00:11:33,520 --> 00:11:36,160 Speaker 1: Benjamin worked out a deal with the Elikots for them 198 00:11:36,200 --> 00:11:39,160 Speaker 1: to take possession of his farm where he continued to live, 199 00:11:39,200 --> 00:11:41,199 Speaker 1: in exchange for a pension that he could live on 200 00:11:41,720 --> 00:11:44,079 Speaker 1: so that he could spend more time studying and writing. 201 00:11:44,480 --> 00:11:47,880 Speaker 1: And it was an arrangement very similar to today's reverse mortgages, 202 00:11:48,440 --> 00:11:50,760 Speaker 1: and sometimes it's actually referred to as the first reverse 203 00:11:50,800 --> 00:11:53,680 Speaker 1: mortgage in history. Yeah, where he's kind of pre selling 204 00:11:53,760 --> 00:11:56,160 Speaker 1: the land that he's still living on. Yes, because, as 205 00:11:56,200 --> 00:11:59,480 Speaker 1: we've talked about in other podcasts, sustaining yourself on a 206 00:11:59,520 --> 00:12:02,520 Speaker 1: farm pretty much a full time, constant job, and he 207 00:12:02,600 --> 00:12:04,960 Speaker 1: wanted to have time to study and write. So he 208 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:07,160 Speaker 1: worked out this deal where you know, they would get 209 00:12:07,200 --> 00:12:09,000 Speaker 1: all of his land upon his death. He could continue 210 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:10,920 Speaker 1: to live there, but they would pay him some money 211 00:12:11,800 --> 00:12:14,760 Speaker 1: every month. He used some actuarial tables to do this. 212 00:12:15,200 --> 00:12:17,880 Speaker 1: It turned out he lived a little longer than expected. Whoops, 213 00:12:18,120 --> 00:12:20,320 Speaker 1: but it was okay. They continued. They continued to pay 214 00:12:20,400 --> 00:12:24,319 Speaker 1: him throughout as agreed. For six years. From seventeen ninety 215 00:12:24,320 --> 00:12:27,840 Speaker 1: two to seventeen ninety seven, Benjamin published Almanacs, which were 216 00:12:27,920 --> 00:12:32,679 Speaker 1: known as the Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia Almanac and Ephemeris. 217 00:12:33,040 --> 00:12:35,720 Speaker 1: He was the first African American to publish an almanac, 218 00:12:36,120 --> 00:12:39,800 Speaker 1: and those almanacs started out as celestial tables and charts 219 00:12:39,840 --> 00:12:43,360 Speaker 1: of planetary movements, and as with other almanacs at the time, 220 00:12:43,520 --> 00:12:46,079 Speaker 1: they mixed a lot of different information into one book, 221 00:12:46,480 --> 00:12:51,720 Speaker 1: including Benjamin's astronomy work, tied information, medical knowledge, et cetera. 222 00:12:52,400 --> 00:12:55,600 Speaker 1: And they also included a lot of essays, poems, and literature, 223 00:12:55,800 --> 00:12:58,800 Speaker 1: so they weren't just books of straight up facts. They 224 00:12:59,000 --> 00:13:03,560 Speaker 1: served an abolitionist purpose as well, since they contained a 225 00:13:03,559 --> 00:13:07,280 Speaker 1: collection of anti slavery speeches and essays, so again going 226 00:13:07,320 --> 00:13:11,760 Speaker 1: back to him being an ambassador for his people. In 227 00:13:11,800 --> 00:13:14,800 Speaker 1: the end, he published six of these almanacs in twenty 228 00:13:14,800 --> 00:13:17,400 Speaker 1: eight editions and they received a lot of high praise 229 00:13:17,440 --> 00:13:20,199 Speaker 1: for being a very good quality, but they were eventually 230 00:13:20,240 --> 00:13:23,520 Speaker 1: discontinued due to low sales. And he had created all 231 00:13:23,520 --> 00:13:28,319 Speaker 1: of the ephemerists, which are star chart pieces, as well 232 00:13:28,320 --> 00:13:31,120 Speaker 1: as other astronomical work, all the way through eighteen oh four, 233 00:13:31,520 --> 00:13:34,560 Speaker 1: but these later years weren't published. And in addition to 234 00:13:34,600 --> 00:13:36,960 Speaker 1: all of that writing, he also did some work about 235 00:13:37,040 --> 00:13:41,640 Speaker 1: seventeen year locusts and bees, which is pertinent today since 236 00:13:41,679 --> 00:13:43,920 Speaker 1: we're there's much talk in the news about the seventeen 237 00:13:44,000 --> 00:13:46,040 Speaker 1: year locust cycle. I know that was an accident. I 238 00:13:46,080 --> 00:13:49,600 Speaker 1: was delighted when I stumbled across them, across the locust thing, 239 00:13:49,600 --> 00:13:50,960 Speaker 1: and went, well, this is going to turn out to 240 00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:55,560 Speaker 1: be particularly relevant because of locusts. So a lot of 241 00:13:55,600 --> 00:13:58,120 Speaker 1: his fame has to do with his self taught education 242 00:13:58,200 --> 00:14:00,920 Speaker 1: and his work as a scientist. He was also an 243 00:14:00,960 --> 00:14:05,320 Speaker 1: abolitionist and an activist for peace. His first almanac also 244 00:14:05,360 --> 00:14:08,240 Speaker 1: recommended that the US government have a Department of Peace, 245 00:14:08,520 --> 00:14:11,720 Speaker 1: which finally happened about two hundred years later when the 246 00:14:11,760 --> 00:14:14,520 Speaker 1: founding of the with the founding of the US Institutes 247 00:14:14,520 --> 00:14:18,080 Speaker 1: of Peace, and Benjamin also actively spoke and wrote about 248 00:14:18,080 --> 00:14:22,280 Speaker 1: abolition before the US really even had a strong abolitionist movement. 249 00:14:22,320 --> 00:14:34,680 Speaker 1: He was a complete forerunner. Yeah. In seventeen ninety one, 250 00:14:34,720 --> 00:14:37,080 Speaker 1: he wrote to Thomas Jefferson, who was at the time 251 00:14:37,120 --> 00:14:40,880 Speaker 1: the Secretary of State, about slavery. He enclosed this letter 252 00:14:40,960 --> 00:14:44,120 Speaker 1: with a handwritten copy of his not yet published almanac 253 00:14:44,200 --> 00:14:47,640 Speaker 1: for that year, and this was in part a response 254 00:14:47,680 --> 00:14:50,640 Speaker 1: to Jefferson's notes on the State of Virginia, in which 255 00:14:50,720 --> 00:14:53,920 Speaker 1: Jefferson wrote at length about what he considered to be 256 00:14:54,080 --> 00:14:59,080 Speaker 1: the inferiority of blacks. And in this letter he described 257 00:14:59,120 --> 00:15:00,880 Speaker 1: who he was, and he he tried to appeal to 258 00:15:00,960 --> 00:15:03,960 Speaker 1: Jefferson's better nature, and he wanted to point out the 259 00:15:04,000 --> 00:15:07,720 Speaker 1: inconsistency in the Founding Father's talk about everyone being equal 260 00:15:08,160 --> 00:15:12,160 Speaker 1: while still owning slaves and describing blacks's inferior And he 261 00:15:12,200 --> 00:15:15,400 Speaker 1: wrote about the young colonies attempting to free themselves from 262 00:15:15,400 --> 00:15:18,160 Speaker 1: the British crown, and how the government should be able 263 00:15:18,200 --> 00:15:21,720 Speaker 1: to empathize with slaves having had their own struggles for freedom, 264 00:15:22,080 --> 00:15:24,520 Speaker 1: And he pointed out the irony in the quote we 265 00:15:24,600 --> 00:15:26,600 Speaker 1: hold these truths to be self evident, that all men 266 00:15:26,640 --> 00:15:29,240 Speaker 1: are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator 267 00:15:29,320 --> 00:15:33,520 Speaker 1: with certain unalienable rights, and that among these are life, liberty, 268 00:15:33,560 --> 00:15:38,200 Speaker 1: and the pursuit of happiness. That's very quite moving to me. Yeah, 269 00:15:38,280 --> 00:15:41,080 Speaker 1: and he was very articulate. Here's a selection from near 270 00:15:41,120 --> 00:15:44,200 Speaker 1: the end of the letter. I suppose that your knowledge 271 00:15:44,200 --> 00:15:46,920 Speaker 1: of the situation of my brethren is too extensive to 272 00:15:46,960 --> 00:15:50,960 Speaker 1: need a recital here, Neither shall I presume to prescribe 273 00:15:50,960 --> 00:15:54,560 Speaker 1: methods by which they may be relieved, otherwise than by 274 00:15:54,600 --> 00:15:58,000 Speaker 1: recommending to you and all others to wean yourself from 275 00:15:58,040 --> 00:16:01,680 Speaker 1: these narrow prejudices, which which you have imbibed with respect 276 00:16:01,680 --> 00:16:05,080 Speaker 1: to them. And as Job proposed to his friends, put 277 00:16:05,120 --> 00:16:08,960 Speaker 1: your soul in their soul's stead. Thus shall your hearts 278 00:16:09,040 --> 00:16:12,480 Speaker 1: be enlarged with kindness and benevolence toward them. And just 279 00:16:12,680 --> 00:16:15,960 Speaker 1: shall you need neither the direction of myself or others 280 00:16:16,480 --> 00:16:21,040 Speaker 1: in what manner to proceed herein. And so he's pretty 281 00:16:21,080 --> 00:16:24,160 Speaker 1: much saying, you can put yourself in our shoes. Yeah, 282 00:16:25,000 --> 00:16:27,480 Speaker 1: use a little empathy. Yeah, you might look at this differently. 283 00:16:27,520 --> 00:16:29,000 Speaker 1: He's pretty much I'm not going to tell you that 284 00:16:29,040 --> 00:16:30,760 Speaker 1: it's specifics of how to do it. Here's sort of 285 00:16:30,800 --> 00:16:33,880 Speaker 1: just a simple step of showing some empathy. And then 286 00:16:33,920 --> 00:16:39,440 Speaker 1: he turns to a rather more practical statement, because he says, 287 00:16:39,680 --> 00:16:43,080 Speaker 1: announ sir, although my sympathy and affection for my brethren 288 00:16:43,440 --> 00:16:46,880 Speaker 1: hath caused my enlargement. Thus far I ardently hope that 289 00:16:46,920 --> 00:16:50,440 Speaker 1: your candor and generosity will plead with you in my behalf. 290 00:16:51,040 --> 00:16:52,560 Speaker 1: Then I make known to you that it was not 291 00:16:52,680 --> 00:16:55,600 Speaker 1: originally my design, but having taken up my pen in 292 00:16:55,680 --> 00:16:58,440 Speaker 1: order to direct to you as a present a copy 293 00:16:58,480 --> 00:17:01,400 Speaker 1: of an almanac which I have calculated for the succeeding year. 294 00:17:01,760 --> 00:17:05,760 Speaker 1: I was unexpectedly and unavoidably led there too, so I 295 00:17:05,800 --> 00:17:07,800 Speaker 1: hadn't just meant to write you a note with my almanac. 296 00:17:08,359 --> 00:17:10,080 Speaker 1: But once I had the pen in my hand, once 297 00:17:10,080 --> 00:17:11,560 Speaker 1: they got go in, I need to tell you the 298 00:17:11,600 --> 00:17:14,600 Speaker 1: rest of this too, And Jefferson replied to him. He 299 00:17:14,680 --> 00:17:17,640 Speaker 1: responded in less than two weeks, which at that time 300 00:17:17,680 --> 00:17:20,399 Speaker 1: is a pretty quick turnaround. And the letter, which is 301 00:17:20,440 --> 00:17:24,160 Speaker 1: dated August thirtieth of seventeen ninety one, says, I thank 302 00:17:24,200 --> 00:17:27,240 Speaker 1: you sincerely for your letter of the nineteenth instant, and 303 00:17:27,280 --> 00:17:30,600 Speaker 1: for the almanac it contained. Nobody wishes more than I 304 00:17:30,680 --> 00:17:33,399 Speaker 1: do to see such proofs as you exhibit, that nature 305 00:17:33,440 --> 00:17:36,240 Speaker 1: has given to our Black brethren talents equal to those 306 00:17:36,280 --> 00:17:39,080 Speaker 1: of other colors of men, and that the appearance of 307 00:17:39,119 --> 00:17:41,480 Speaker 1: the want of them is owing merely to the degraded 308 00:17:41,480 --> 00:17:45,479 Speaker 1: condition of their existence, both in Africa and America. I 309 00:17:45,480 --> 00:17:48,680 Speaker 1: can add with truth that nobody wishes more ardently to 310 00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:51,880 Speaker 1: see a good system commenced for raising the condition both 311 00:17:51,920 --> 00:17:54,080 Speaker 1: of their body and mind to what it ought to be. 312 00:17:54,680 --> 00:17:57,399 Speaker 1: As far as the imbecility of their present existence, and 313 00:17:57,440 --> 00:18:01,919 Speaker 1: other circumstances which cannot be neglected, will admit. And then 314 00:18:01,960 --> 00:18:04,000 Speaker 1: he goes on to say, I have taken the liberty 315 00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:07,480 Speaker 1: of sending your almanac to Monsieur Condozette, Secretary of the 316 00:18:07,520 --> 00:18:10,600 Speaker 1: Academy of Sciences at Paris and member of the philanthrop 317 00:18:10,840 --> 00:18:14,280 Speaker 1: Thropic Society, because I considered it as a document to 318 00:18:14,359 --> 00:18:16,679 Speaker 1: which your whole color had a right for their justification 319 00:18:17,040 --> 00:18:19,840 Speaker 1: against the doubts which have been entertained of them. I 320 00:18:19,880 --> 00:18:23,159 Speaker 1: am with great esteem, sir, your most obedient, humble servant, 321 00:18:24,040 --> 00:18:27,639 Speaker 1: just really quite lovely. Yeah, it's simultaneously a lovely and 322 00:18:27,760 --> 00:18:33,800 Speaker 1: flattering letter without really acknowledging a lot of what was 323 00:18:33,920 --> 00:18:36,240 Speaker 1: pointed out to him in the first place, which continues 324 00:18:36,240 --> 00:18:39,359 Speaker 1: to be a running theme in the subject of Thomas 325 00:18:39,440 --> 00:18:43,520 Speaker 1: Jefferson and slavery and race. And then Benjamin put this 326 00:18:43,560 --> 00:18:46,840 Speaker 1: whole correspondence in his seventeen ninety three Almanac, and you 327 00:18:46,840 --> 00:18:48,320 Speaker 1: can read it all online and we will link to 328 00:18:48,359 --> 00:18:52,000 Speaker 1: it in the show notes. I wonder what Jefferson thought 329 00:18:52,000 --> 00:18:55,840 Speaker 1: of that, Like, I didn't mean that for everybody. I 330 00:18:55,920 --> 00:18:58,080 Speaker 1: just don't know well. And I know that there have 331 00:18:58,240 --> 00:19:02,280 Speaker 1: been passed in the archive. There are other episodes about 332 00:19:02,359 --> 00:19:04,880 Speaker 1: Thomas Jefferson, and there has been so much work at 333 00:19:05,000 --> 00:19:08,160 Speaker 1: length about the subject of Thomas Jefferson and Racey. It's 334 00:19:08,920 --> 00:19:13,360 Speaker 1: a whole giant field of discussion. That's there are people 335 00:19:13,440 --> 00:19:16,639 Speaker 1: that spend their entire scholarly lives studying nothing else, yes, 336 00:19:16,680 --> 00:19:21,439 Speaker 1: but his relationship to racial issues. Right. So, after his 337 00:19:21,560 --> 00:19:25,240 Speaker 1: almanacs ceased to publish, and after his work in Washington, 338 00:19:25,320 --> 00:19:28,000 Speaker 1: d c. Was finished, Benjamin spent a lot of his 339 00:19:28,040 --> 00:19:31,920 Speaker 1: later life with study and writing. After he had an 340 00:19:31,920 --> 00:19:34,600 Speaker 1: illness in his later years, he made arrangements for how 341 00:19:34,640 --> 00:19:36,440 Speaker 1: he wanted all of his work to be taken care 342 00:19:36,480 --> 00:19:39,399 Speaker 1: of after his death, but unfortunately much of it was 343 00:19:39,440 --> 00:19:44,080 Speaker 1: destroyed when his house burned and Benjamin Bannaker died approximately 344 00:19:44,720 --> 00:19:48,040 Speaker 1: on October twenty fifth of eighteen oh six. I know, 345 00:19:48,040 --> 00:19:49,919 Speaker 1: as we said at the top of the podcast, today 346 00:19:49,920 --> 00:19:53,400 Speaker 1: there are schools and professorships and foundations named after him, 347 00:19:53,760 --> 00:19:57,080 Speaker 1: and he was put on a commemorative stamp in nineteen eighty. 348 00:19:57,320 --> 00:20:03,480 Speaker 1: So even though in the world of African American scientists, 349 00:20:03,720 --> 00:20:08,000 Speaker 1: in the world of early forerunners of the abolitionist movement 350 00:20:08,000 --> 00:20:10,840 Speaker 1: in America. He's maybe not one of the most prominent names. 351 00:20:11,359 --> 00:20:15,440 Speaker 1: He definitely had a legacy and did some just really 352 00:20:15,480 --> 00:20:21,200 Speaker 1: amazing work, especially considering that he had almost no formal education. 353 00:20:21,480 --> 00:20:23,359 Speaker 1: Well then, he was so ahead of his time on 354 00:20:23,480 --> 00:20:27,920 Speaker 1: most Oh yes, I mean scientifically, mathematically abolition. He was 355 00:20:27,960 --> 00:20:32,320 Speaker 1: like many steps ahead of the rest of the people 356 00:20:32,359 --> 00:20:35,400 Speaker 1: around him. Yes, it was quite might be why he's 357 00:20:35,440 --> 00:20:37,800 Speaker 1: not always associated with those things. He's kind of too 358 00:20:37,840 --> 00:20:41,240 Speaker 1: early to play an obvious part in the bigger stage 359 00:20:41,560 --> 00:20:45,160 Speaker 1: when things really heated up. Yeah, I am quite fond 360 00:20:45,160 --> 00:20:47,880 Speaker 1: of him now too. I love his story. He knew 361 00:20:47,960 --> 00:20:51,600 Speaker 1: very little about him before I started researching, And of 362 00:20:51,640 --> 00:20:54,560 Speaker 1: course I'm always fond of scientists who like to study 363 00:20:54,600 --> 00:21:05,560 Speaker 1: things like stars and bees who wouldn't. Thanks so much 364 00:21:05,600 --> 00:21:08,639 Speaker 1: for joining us on this Saturday. Since this episode is 365 00:21:08,680 --> 00:21:10,719 Speaker 1: out of the archive, if you heard an email address 366 00:21:10,800 --> 00:21:13,320 Speaker 1: or a Facebook RL or something similar over the course 367 00:21:13,359 --> 00:21:16,639 Speaker 1: of the show, that could be obsolete now. Our current 368 00:21:16,720 --> 00:21:22,280 Speaker 1: email address is History Podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. You 369 00:21:22,320 --> 00:21:25,520 Speaker 1: can find us all over social media at missed inistory, 370 00:21:25,880 --> 00:21:28,879 Speaker 1: and you can subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, 371 00:21:28,920 --> 00:21:32,520 Speaker 1: Google Podcasts, the iHeartRadio app, and wherever else you listen 372 00:21:32,520 --> 00:21:37,679 Speaker 1: to podcasts. Stuff you Missed in History Class is a 373 00:21:37,680 --> 00:21:42,040 Speaker 1: production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the 374 00:21:42,080 --> 00:21:45,639 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 375 00:21:45,640 --> 00:21:46,640 Speaker 1: favorite shows.