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Benjamin Banneker Facts & Worksheets

Benjamin Banneker was a self-taught free African-American who lived from 1731 to 1806. He advocated for racial equality, but was also interested in many scientific fields. Many people consider him to be the first African-American scientist.

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Benjamin Banneker was an African-American who was best known for producing one of America’s earliest almanacs as well as the country’s first natively produced clock. His accomplishments may have influenced how black people were perceived during the Federal period.

See the fact file below for more information on Benjamin Banneker, or you can download our comprehensive worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment.

Facts & Information

Early Life

  • He was born in Baltimore County on November 9, 1731. His parents were both black, but his father was a former enslaved person who was freed.
  • He was said to be of purely African ancestry, but subsequent investigations revealed that his grandmother was white.
  • In 1737, he was named on the deed to his family’s 100-acre farm in the Patapsco Valley.
  • His parents sent him to a remote school in 1791, where he learned reading, writing, and arithmetic.
  • He became close to Quaker Peter Heinrich. Quakers were leaders of anti-slavery and racial equality movements.
  • His formal education ended as soon as he could help out on the farm. Nonetheless, he continued his studies in the personal library that Heinrich had shared with him.

Notable Works

  • Around 1753, he made a wooden clock that strikes on the hour, which he modeled from a pocket watch he borrowed by carving its pieces to scale.
    • His wooden clock was one of his notable inventions and possibly gave him the opportunity to be the man behind the nickname Big Ben used for the Great Bell of the striking clock. However, there were also some theories about whom the Big Ben name commemorates.
  • In 1759, his father died, and he stayed with his mother and sisters.
  • He signed a petition in 1768 to move the county seat from Joppa to Baltimore.
  • The Ellicott brothers relocated from Bucks County to Patapsco Falls, near Banneker’s farm, in 1772. Banneker studied gristmills built by the Ellicott.
  • He got along well with the Ellicotts. George, a son of Andrew Ellicott, who was among the brothers who moved to Patapsco Falls in 1772, let Banneker borrow books and equipment that allowed him to study astronomy. In 1789, he sent George his work on solar eclipse calculations.
  • In 1790, he prepared an ephemeris that he anticipated to be included in an almanac the following year, but he was unable to find a printer willing to assist him with publishing and distributing the work.

Surveying

  • Major Andrew Ellicott, George’s cousin, was assigned by Thomas Jefferson to survey an area that would become a new federal district in 1791.
  • Ellicott hired and tasked him with assisting him in the initial survey of the federal district’s boundaries. His primary responsibilities included astronomical observations and calculations for establishing base points such as the Jones point. He was also said to have used a clock to calculate the positions of stars.
  • Every mile point, the surveying team placed stones that would mark the boundaries of the new capital.
  • However, some claimed that his role in the survey was merely documentation. The first boundary stone was reported to be of Major Andrew’s work in a news report on April 21, 1791, featuring the dedication ceremony held six days earlier, and Banneker’s name was not mentioned once.
  • He abandoned the survey after three months of work because he needed the time to work on an ephemeris for 1792. During the spring, their farm also required his assistance. Major Andrew’s brothers had also completed the survey in New York.

Almanacs

  • When he returned to Ellicott’s Mills, he worked on his astronomical calculations to predict eclipses and planetary conjunctions for the ephemeris.
  • Andrew Ellicott assisted him in getting his almanac published by sending his ephemeris to James Pemberton, an anti-slavery promoter.
  • Pemberton asked mathematician and ephemeris calculator William Waring and astronomer, almanac author, and surveyor David Rittenhouse to double-check Banneker’s work.
  • Waring confirmed and even endorsed it, stating that it deserved the public’s acceptance and encouragement.
  • Rittenhouse also praised the ephemeris and promoted his achievement as a source of pride for African-Americans. However, he was irritated that his race was brought up when Rittenhouse was only asked if the work was accurate or not.
  • Pemberton arranged for the almanac to be printed by Quaker Joseph Crukshank.
  • He confidently handed over a manuscript of his ephemeris to Baltimore printer William Goddard. Goddard agreed to have his work printed and distributed for the 1792 publication as Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia Almanack and Ephemeris, for the Year of our Lord, 1792.
  • Goddard and his partner, James Angell, published the 1792 Baltimore Almanac. It was said to have been introduced to the House of Commons by abolitionists such as William Pitt to help in the abolition of the slave trade in Africa, but it was not acknowledged in the Parliament’s report.

Letter to Thomas Jefferson

  • As soon as he left the federal capital area on August 19, 1791, he wrote a letter to Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson was the Secretary of State and drafted the US Declaration of Independence.
  • Banneker held on to the Declaration of Independence and used it in the letter to make an appeal for justice for African-Americans.
  • He sent a manuscript of an almanac for 1792 with his ephemeris in support of his plea.
  • He accused Jefferson of using deception and violence to oppress the enslaved people who worked for him.
    • “… Sir, how pitiable is it to reflect, that altho you were so fully convinced of the benevolence of the Father of mankind, and of his equal and impartial distribution of those rights and privileges which he had 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 your Selves.” – from Banneker’s Letter to Jefferson.
  • He did not get a direct response to his accusations, but Jefferson expressed his support for his “black brethren.”
    • “I thank you sincerely for your letter of the 19th. Instant and for the Almanac, it contained. Nobody 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 & that the appearance of a want of them owes merely to the degraded condition of their existence both in Africa & America. I can add with truth that no body wishes more ardently to see a good system commenced for raising the condition both of their body & mind to what it ought to be, as fast as the imbecility of their present existence, and other circumstance which cannot be neglected will admit. I have taken the liberty of sending your almanac to Monsieur de Condorcet, 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.” – from Jefferson’s Reply to Banneker.
  • Nonetheless, the almanac was not delivered to the Academy of Sciences.

Death

  • He was never married.
  • He sold the majority of his properties to the Ellicotts and others.
  • He died in his log cabin on October 19, 1806, as a result of his worsening chronic alcoholism.

Benjamin Banneker Worksheets

This bundle includes 11 ready-to-use Benjamin Banneker worksheets that are perfect for students to learn about Benjamin Banneker, who was a self-taught free African-American who lived from 1731 to 1806. He advocated for racial equality but was also interested in many scientific fields. Many people consider him to be the first African-American scientist.

This download includes the following worksheets:

  • Benjamin Banneker Facts
  • Who is Benjamin?
  • Clock
  • Astronomy
  • Drafting Instruments
  • Abolitionist
  • Adjectives
  • Fill in the Blanks
  • Word Jumble
  • Almanac
  • Reflection

Frequently Asked Questions

What was Benjamin Banneker best known for?

Benjamin Banneker was an African-American who was best known for producing one of America’s earliest almanacs as well as the country’s first natively produced clock.

What did Benjamin Banneker invent?

Around 1753, he made a wooden clock that strikes on the hour, which he modeled from a pocket watch he borrowed by carving its pieces to scale.

Is Benjamin Banneker black or white?

He was said to be of purely African ancestry, but subsequent investigations revealed that his grandmother was white.

What does Banneker accuse Jefferson of?

He accused Jefferson of using deception and violence to oppress the enslaved people who worked for him.

Is Big Ben named after a black man?

His (Benjamin Banneker’s) wooden clock was one of his notable inventions and possibly gave him the opportunity to be the man behind the nickname Big Ben used for the Great Bell of the striking clock. However, there were also some theories about whom the Big Ben name commemorates.

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Link will appear as Benjamin Banneker Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, February 8, 2018

Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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