North versus South, slave versus non-slave; The Missouri Compromise decided the fate of slavery while dividing the North and South, which would lead to an epic civil war. This imaginary line of slave division changed the nation forever. Long before this compromise, however, many people resented slavery and found more calm ways to release their anger rather than uncivil war. In Benjamin Banneker's letter to Thomas Jefferson, Banneker argues for slavery, referencing biblical and constitutional allusions to unite his audience under a set of shared values, syntactical permutation to emphasize how long slavery has transcended America, and a rapid tone shift to invoke emotion and willpower unto his audience.
Throughout his entire letter, Banneker alludes a multitude of times to the Bible. He wrote about the blessing of independence, which "you have mercifully recieved and that is the peculiar blessing of Heaven." He also quotes a verse from the book of Job saying, "[P]ut your souls in their souls stead." Banneker inserts these two quotes along with a direct recitation of the founding principle upon which the United States was founded to align his audience in the thought that all meaner created equal. Many people at that time believed in equality and God, so uniting Americans under these two ideals allows Banneker to be seen as a leader much like the founding fathers. His constant iteration of these founding ideals as well as direct allusions to the Declaration of Independence establish his credibility as one who believes in the very values the forged America. In doing this, Banneker levels himself with Thomas Jefferson who fought for the same principles of liberty and freedom that he believes.
Along with constant allusions, Banneker uses a very complex sentence structure called syntactical permutation. He combines many of his thoughts into one long, permuted sentence. In three paragraphs, Banneker writes five sentences.
