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As inequalities rose, Benjamin Banneker, the son of former slaves, made an attempt to make a change for African Americans in 1791 as he wrote a letter to Thomas Jefferson, framer of the Declaration of Independence. In his letter, Banneker relies on repetition and pathos in order to tell Jefferson to end slavery and the inequalities.
In his letter, Banneker utilizes repetition to emphasize what he wants his audience to know when arguing against slavery. As he argues in his letter, he still wants to come off as respectful because he repeatedly uses the phrase ‘sir’ whenever he starts his sentences or a new topic. The opening phrase eases tension with the main target of the letter and the audience, regardless of having different opinions as him, because he wants to seem polite towards the readers. By using the word ‘sir’ Banneker wants the audience to know that he does not want to offend anyone, but to speak on what he knows. By repeatedly using that word, he doesn’t want the audience to disagree or fight with him, but to listen to what he has to say, in hopes of some understanding and possible change. Subsequently, he continues to use repetition when he states, ‘you’ multiple times to emphasize that he is targeting his message to Thomas Jefferson. In order to get the message received and taken seriously, Banneker makes sure to use ‘you’ to get his message read. This strategy of repeating words is to convince Jefferson and the broader audience who don’t have the same morals as him, to do something to change the inequalities of slavery because it isn’t fair for African Americans to be living unjustly.
After trying to argue against slavery by using repetition, Banneker appeals to emotions in his letter by making the audience feel certain feelings when reading his statement. He states, “…in which you saw into the injustice of a State of Slavery, and in which you had just apprehensions of the horrors of its condition’. Banneker describes the situations that have happened to slaves in order for his readers to feel remorse towards them. His words help them feel emotions toward the slaves and in hopes will help make a change in knowing what challenges they face every day. Also, by making the audience feel guilty he states, “thus shall your hearts be enlarged with kindness and benevolence towards them”. Although Banneker writes this to sound nice, he knows that the main audience does not practice what he is stating, which makes the people feel guilty of not doing so, especially after hearing what it’s like being an African American. Banneker hopes this will appeal to the audience’s emotions and inspire them to make a change in systematic racism because he is making them more aware of what’s going on and how inequalities of slaves need to stop.
Ultimately, Banneker repeats certain phrases to make his points clear and appeals to the audience’s emotions to argue against slavery. By writing his letter, Banneker was trying to convince the people in 1791 to stop the inequalities of slavery, in order to have a more diverse and kinder world.
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