Benjamin Banneker

“Benjamin Banneker was a free black man who liked to study math and science. He was born on November 9, 1731,in Baltimore County, Maryland,where he lived on a farm that grew tobacco and vegetables. Seeing plants grow made him think about how other things worked, Inspiring him to want to discover how a clock worked. Benjamin Banneker invented the first wooden clock.
Benjamin’s family grew tobacco and vegetables to sell in the market. He had the opportunity to attend a Quaker school. Benjamin’s parents wanted him to study and receive an education, so they sent him to a Quaker school where he was attending with white children from the area. “Although he attended elementary school, he was taught to read and write by his grandmother.”During Banneker’s time, slavery was very common. People were racist because they were white and the slaves were black. Even though his family was black, white people left them alone. “Banneker was most certainly aware of the horrors of slavery, though he may never see incidents of brutality in his own area.” In Benjamin Banneker's childhood, the support he received from his parents, family members, and lack of experience with discrimination will later helped him become the …show more content…
His interest in math began when he was only five years old. His grandma, Molly, had already taught him hundreds of numbers. Benjamin loved to count and, he counted whatever he saw, and remembered how much he’d counted. His interest in science grew more when he studied the books that family friends let him borrowed. George Ellicott, an amateur astronomer, recognized Banker's intelligence and encouraged him in his intellectual interests. He lent him books on astronomy to study.His desire to count, the ability to learn astronomy by reading, and books helped him to become the inventor that he was destined to be. The invention of the wooden clock was a result of Benjamin’s interest in math and