Paul Haspel's Reviews > Benjamin Banneker: Surveyor, Astronomer, Publisher, Patriot

Benjamin Banneker is one of the greatest scientists in American history – making it all the more unfortunate that, even in an era of increasing multicultural awareness, biographies of this brilliant African-American intellectual from Baltimore County, Maryland, have been few and far between. How fortunate, then, that Washington, D.C., writer Charles Cerami published in 2002 this short biography – Benjamin Banneker: Surveyor, Astronomer, Publisher, Patriot. The biography, like its title, captures well the variety and magnitude of Banneker’s achievements.

From the beginning, Cerami emphasizes both Banneker’s anomalous status as a free African American in slaveholding Maryland, and the manner in which Banneker’s genius quickly and repeatedly made itself apparent. A watch, lent to him by a friend, not only led the young Banneker to profound reflections upon the nature of time itself, but also encouraged him to take apart the watch, reassemble it, and then use the knowledge that he had gained to construct a clock of his own, made entirely from wood:

After drawing a careful design of how the watch’s parts fitted together, then taking it completely apart and studying the mathematical ratios of the gearwheels to each other, he had his strategy for making a large clock whose seconds, minutes, and hours exactly paralleled those of the watch. It would all be made from wood, the one material to which he had easy access and that he could fabricate without the problems caused by miniaturization. (p. 50)

This story captures the extraordinary nature of Banneker’s achievements – he had very little formal education, and yet his abilities as both a theoretical mathematician and a practical engineer were truly profound.

Cerami later chronicles the important change in Banneker’s life when the Ellicott family, progressive-minded Quakers, moved into the Patapsco Valley region of Maryland, and established the mill that once bore their name, and the city that still does. The Ellicotts provided Banneker with a reliable market for the produce of his farm; more important, they offered intellectual companionship and support for Banneker’s ideas, with race playing no role in their high regard for him.

Banneker was attracted to the American Revolutionary cause, in large part because he thought that the new United States of America would mark its freedom from British tyranny by ending the tyranny of slaveholding. When the U.S.A. did not do so, Banneker was deeply disappointed:

While taking into account the issues the leaders would have faced in tackling the issue head-on, he thought they had missed the best moment for declaring an end to slavery. It would really have been easier, he felt, to abolish the hideous practice immediately at the time of victory, while a glow of satisfaction might have softened the anger of the slave owners. As the victory of 1781 became nearly a decade old, he recognized that his belief in the founders had been betrayed. But he tried not to give way to his furious disappointment too soon, still hoping that a great decision on the issue would finally emerge. (pp. 101-02)

In spite of the contradictions of living in a new nation declaring that “all men are created equal” while still holding a great many men, women, and children in bondage, Banneker continued to display his brilliance and genius in all sorts of ways. When President George Washington assigned Major Andrew Ellicott the task of surveying the boundaries of the new District of Columbia, Major Ellicott promptly selected Banneker as his assistant. Banneker was assiduous in completing the painstaking work of astronomical observations that would ensure that the survey was conducted accurately, with no extra land being taken from the states of Maryland and Virginia that had donated land for the nation's capital.

Near the home where I grew up in Bethesda, Maryland, Westmoreland Circle is home to two of the old boundary stones that mark the Maryland/D.C. line. I know that from now on, when I drive by those boundary stones, I will think of Banneker and his great achievement.

Banneker also achieved fame and distinction through his publication of an almanac that sold thousands of copies and was widely praised for its scientific accuracy. The fact that the author was an African American did not interfere with its success: “Many persons bought it as a curiosity and then marveled at its quality and told their friends that it was simply a fine almanac, regardless of who composed it. Beyond the calculations, they liked the reading matter and the personality of the man behind it….[F]or the time he lived in, Benjamin Banneker had become a well-known figure” (p. 152).

Banneker also saw, in the publication and success of his almanac, abundant evidence of the simple truth that African Americans were every bit as capable of intellectual achievement and success as people of any other racial or cultural background. When scientist David Rittenhouse, in a well-meaning if somewhat clumsy way, tried to praise Banneker’s almanac by calling it “a very extraordinary performance, considering the colour of the Author”, Banneker replied with some asperity, “I am annoyed to find that the subject of my race is so much stressed….The work is either correct or it is not. In this case, I believe it to be perfect” (p. 150).

Banneker made an even bolder statement of his beliefs in human equality, sending a copy of his almanac to Thomas Jefferson, then Secretary of State in the Washington Administration. Banneker praised Jefferson as “measurably friendly and well disposed” toward the African-American community, and at the same time made unmistakably clear why he had wanted Jefferson to have a copy of the Banneker almanac -- because it provided a practical demonstration that the Creator of all human beings “hath also without partiality afforded us all with the Same Sensations, and endued us all with the same faculties” (p. 164).

It was a bold movement, given the depth of racism in those times, and considering the swiftness with which racist whites often moved – violently, if necessary – to blot out any evidence of African Americans' talent, ability, and achievement. Cerami, who reprints the letter in full, aptly calls it Banneker’s “Declaration of Indignation.” Jefferson responded courteously if ambiguously to Banneker’s letter; on the other hand, his slighting description in a letter to a friend regarding Banneker’s abilities does Jefferson no credit.

After Banneker passed away in 1806, a fire, almost certainly set by arsonists, destroyed his home on the day of his funeral. The wooden clock was burned to ashes, along with countless papers and artifacts that would have enhanced not only our understanding of Banneker’s life and work but also human knowledge generally. But no fire can wipe out the record of Banneker’s achievements. Today, the site of Banneker’s home in Baltimore County is a museum that honors Banneker’s legacy. But if a visit to the Baltimore area is not convenient for you, Cerami’s book provides a concise, well-written look at the life of this great scientist and great American.