Banneker employs allusions to historical documents and a call to belief to convince Jefferson that slavery is immoral. He writes an interesting allusion to the Declaration of Independence, a document signed by Jefferson himself. Banneker points out the hypocrisy in Jefferson’s words: “we hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equally.” How could Jefferson sign such a document when he himself has not said a single word against slavery? If there was a visual description of Jefferson’s facial expression as he was reading Banneker’s letter, it would certainly include a mouth drop. This allusion delivered the ultimate blow to Jefferson and definitely made him rethink why he signed the Declaration in the first place. Banneker