Essays on Benjamin Banneker: Surveyor Astronomer Publisher Patriot

Benjamin Banneker was an American surveyor, astronomer, almanac author, andpublisher. He is known for being the first African American to publish an almanac and for helping to survey the city of Washington, D.C.Banneker was born in 1731 in Baltimore County, Maryland, to a free black family. His mother, Molly Welsh, was a Quaker, and his father, Robert Banneker, was a freed slave. Molly Welsh taught Banneker how to read and write, and he also learned mathematics from his father.Banneker’s first major accomplishment was publishing the Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia Almanac and Ephemeris for the Year of our Lord 1792. This almanac was the first published by an African American.In 1791, Banneker was appointed as a surveyor to help Major Pierre L’Enfant survey the city of Washington, D.C. Banneker’s work on this project helped to lay out the city’s streets and monuments.Banneker continued to publish his almanac until 1797. He also wrote essays on topics such as slavery and racism. Banneker died in 1806.