After a read of Belinda Sutton’s 1783 Petition and the 1791 letter dubbed To Thomas Jefferson from Benjamin Banneker, it is impossible to overlook the authors’ shared perception of men and women of color deserving more than what the Caucasians gave them at the time. Sutton believed that after her years of captivity as the human chattel of one Isaac Royall, she should have a “morsel of [the] immense wealth” her servitude under bondage had given the master (1783, par.5). Similarly, in a wider perspective of the racist ideologies that fueled the slavery system, Banneker insisted that his prowess in Astronomy refuted black inferiority; for that reason, people of African descent had entitlements to the “rights and privileges” gained after the revolution (1791, par.10). After all, white supremacy relied on the understanding that people of color were incompetent and incapable of rational thought. With the given facts in mind, the two authors shared an idea that revolved around entitlement: slaves had a right to earn from their labors [Sutton], and slavery was a barbaric institution that relied on the Caucasians underestimating the minds of black people [Banneker].
Now, the last quarter of the eighteenth century witnessed the formation of the United States of America and the subsequent creation of a government under a Constitution that focused on protecting the interests of the white male population. Hence, as a female slave, Belinda Sutton’s (1783) decision to write a letter to the Massachusetts General Court defied the cultural norms that governed the women and the black people deemed eligible for enslavement. The historical document portrays a humble attitude coupled with the need to paint a picture that most likely sought to elicit pity from her readers. Case in point the decision to narrate her capture in the missive; in her words, “she was ravished from the bosom of her Country” and “cruelly separated” from her parents (Sutton, 1783, par.1). The mentioned subdued tone is especially apparent in the section where she “[casts] herself at the feet of your honors,” the members of the Massachusetts General Court (Sutton, 1783, par.16).
Similarly, Banneker’s missive portrayed his acknowledgment of the possible outrage the document could elicit from the Caucasians: he was counteracting the ideas of Thomas Jefferson, a man revered in the Union as a politician and the author of the Declaration of Independence. Consequently, it is no wonder Benjamin Banneker (1791) began his writing by acknowledging “the greatness of that freedom” he assumed when writing to Jefferson (par.1). Additionally, Banneker (1791) went on to begin all but three paragraphs with the title of “Sir,” a sign of respect and most probably an attempt to appease the white supremacists, among them Jefferson. For example, where Banneker questions Jefferson’s Christianity by pointing out that he and other whites counteracted “[God’s] mercies in detaining by fraud and violence” many blacks “under groaning captivity and cruel oppression,” the title “Sir” appears twice (1791, par. 10).
References
Banneker, B. (1791, August 19). To Thomas Jefferson from Benjamin Banneker. Retrieved from National Archives and Records Administration: https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-22-02-0049
Sutton, B. (1783, February 14). Belinda Sutton’s 1783 Petition. Retrieved from Royall House and Slave Quarters: http://www.royallhouse.org/belinda-suttons-1783-petition-full-text/
