Banneker expresses his stance against slavery using logos to recall the facts of historical significance, counteracting the Declaration of Independence by enclosing the ethics of Banneker's viewpoint and debriefs the reader upon traumatic events his ancestors witnessed linking pathos.

In paragraph one Banneker thinks back to when the 13 colonies weren't in power and sovereign of the British. He makes statements conveying how people felt during the early 1600s to mid-1700s. (Kelly) Banneker says, “look back, I entreat you on the variety of dangers to which you were exposed… In which every human aid appeared unavailable… you cannot but acknowledge that the present freedom… which you enjoy, you have mercifully received… is the peculiar blessing of heaven.” In the previous reference, Banneker exemplifies how enslaved Africans felt. They believed their life was irredeemable and incurable to where they thought slavery would live on forever. When Banneker pulls in the example from the declaration, he uses logos to further his argument …show more content…
He does this by describing the emotions and physical pain they endured. Banneker proclaims “…counteract his mercies in detaining by fraud and violence so numerous a part of my brethren under groaning captivity in cruel oppression… to be found guilty of that most criminal act which you professedly detested and others with respect to yourselves.” This ties his statement about the dangers people who were subdued by the British. He claims that the dangers people under British rule felt symbolize the same fear, endangerment, and demoralization the slaves felt. The life slaves went through was traumatizing. They witnessed their rights overlooked for nearly three centuries during the time period that Banneker wrote his letter to Jefferson and Washington to clearly represent a sympathetic plea for mercy. (The African Americans: Many rivers to