Statutory Prohibition against the Education of Negroes.—­Benjamin Banneker, the Negro Astronomer and Philosopher.—­His Antecedents—­Young Banneker as a Farmer and Inventor—­The Mills of Ellicott & Co.—­Banneker cultivates his Mechanical Genius and Mathematical Tastes.—­Banneker’s first Calculation of an Eclipse submitted for Inspection in 1789.—­His Letter to Mr Ellicott.—­The Testimony of a Personal Acquaintance of Banneker as to his Upright Character.—­His Home becomes a Place of Interest to Visitors.—­Record of his Business Transactions.—­Mrs. Mason’s Visit to him.—­She addresses him in Verse.—­Banneker replies by Letter to her.—­Prepares his First Almanac for Publication in 1792.—­Title of his Almanac—­Banneker’s Letter to Thomas Jefferson.—­Thomas Jefferson’s Reply.—­Banneker invited to accompany the Commissioners to run the Lines of the District of Columbia.—­Banneker’s Habits of studying the Heavenly Bodies.—­Minute Description given to his Sisters in Reference to the Disposition of his Personal Property after Death.—­His Death.—­Regarded as the most Distinguished Negro of his Time.—­Fuller the Mathematician, or “The Virginia Calculator.”—­Fuller of African Birth, but stolen and sold as a Slave into Virginia.—­Visited by Men of Learning.—­He was pronounced to be a Prodigy in the Manipulation of Figures.—­His Death.—­Derham the Physician.—­Science of Medicine regarded as the most Intricate Pursuit of Man.—­Early Life of James Derham.—­His Knowledge of Medicine, how acquired.—­He becomes a Prominent Physician in New Orleans.—­Dr. Rush gives an Account of an Interview with him.—­What the Negro Race produced by their Genius in America. 385

CHAPTER XXX.

Slavery during the revolution.

1775-1783.

Progress of the Slave-Trade.—­A Great War for the Emancipation of the Colonies from Political Bondage.—­Condition of the Southern States during the War.—­The Virginia Declaration of Rights.—­Immediate Legislation against Slavery demanded.—­Advertisement from “The Independent Chronicle.”—­Petition of Massachusetts Slaves.—­An Act preventing the Practice of holding Persons in Slavery.—­Advertisements from “The Continental Journal.”—­A Law passed in Virginia limiting the Rights of Slaves.—­Law emancipating all Slaves who served in the Army.—­New York promises her Negro Soldiers Freedom.—­A Conscientious Minority in Favor of the Abolition of the Slave-Trade.—­Slavery flourishes during the Entire Revolutionary Period. 402

CHAPTER XXXI.

Slavery as A political and legal problem.

1775-1800.