Benjamin Banneker

Benjamin Banneker

Benjamin Banneker was an astronomer, scientist, mathematician, surveyor, clock-maker, author, and social critic. Most notable about his accomplishments was that despite racial constraints and little formal education, he was a self-taught man. By the end of his life, his achievements were well-known around the world.

Unlike many blacks of his time, Banneker was not born into slavery. The maternal side of his family determined this fate. His grandmother Mary Walsh was a white Englishwoman who was sentenced to seven years of servitude for stealing milk. She was sent from England to America to serve as an indentured servant. After she finished her sentence, she bought some land and two African slaves. She married one of them, named Bannaky, and they had many children, one of whom was named Mary. Like her mother, when Mary married, she bought a slave and married him. Mary and Robert had several children, including Banneker. Banneker was born in 1731 just outside of Baltimore, Maryland.

Banneker's education began in the early years of his childhood. Banneker and his siblings were taught to read by their grandmother Molly, who used the Bible as a lesson book. When Banneker was twelve, a Quaker named Peter Heinrich moved next to the Banneker farm and established a school for boys, which Banneker attended. He excelled in mathematics and even progressed beyond the ability of his teacher.

At the age of twenty-one, his abilities were finally utilized. He met a man named Josef Levi who showed him a pocket watch. Banneker was so fascinated that Levi gave him the watch. He studied how it worked, drew a picture of it, and made mathematical calculations for the parts. He worked on building the clock for two years. In 1753, it was completed. It was made of wood and he had carved the gears by hand. This was the first clock built in the United States. For more than forty years, the clock struck every hour.

In addition to creating America's first clock, Banneker had an interest in astronomy. When Banneker's friend Andrew Ellicott died, he left him books on astronomy, scientific instruments, and a telescope. Banneker began to study astronomy and made mathematical calculations of the stars and constellations. He used these calculations to correctly predict a solar eclipse that took place on April 14, 1789.

His abilities in astronomy and mathematics led him to create an almanac in 1792.