322 Political Activity and Resistance to Oppression: From the American Revolution to the Civil War
achievements in the publication of his astronomical alma-
nacs (1792–1797), his scientifi c contributions for the 1791
Capitol City Boundary survey, and his crucial letter to the
secretary of state, Th omas Jeff erson, challenging Jeff erson’s
view on racial inferiority (1791).
Banneker’s father, Robert, was a former slave from
West Africa who achieved freedom from his planter owner.
Banneker’s mother, Mary, was the daughter of an English
woman, Molly Welch, and “Banneka,” a West African
prince taken as a slave. Banneker’s white grandmother was
transported from her native England to the New World
aft er being wrongfully convicted of stealing milk. Aft er
seven years as an indentured servant, Banneker’s grand-
mother acquired her freedom from her Quaker owner and
began farming nearby. She purchased two slaves newly ar-
rived from Africa to help her with the land, located near
the mouth of Maryland’s Patapsco River. Banneker’s grand-
mother later freed these two slaves, including her future
husband, “Banneka,” whom she married around 1696.
Banneker was devoted to his family’s farm. With fru-
gality, industriousness, and productive crops, Banneker’s
family purchased the original land and nearby farms. Ban-
neker, who never married, inherited portions of the land
upon the death of his father in 1759. A variety of crops—
wheat, herbs, vegetables, and tobacco—were grown. Ban-
neker made the switch from tobacco to wheat as his main
crop. Educated by a Quaker schoolmaster, Banneker was
self-taught on advanced subjects. Mathematics and as-
tronomy were his favorites. To seriously pursue astronomy,
Banneker adjusted his schedule by farming during the day
and performing scientifi c research aft er nightfall. He re-
corded detailed notes of scientifi c fi ndings in his journal
(e.g., the timing of ocean tides, the earthquake of 1790, and
the locust life cycle). Respectful and modest, Banneker was
religious, preferring the Society of Friends.
Th e Banneker family greatly valued their freedom. Yet
they were aware of the perils of slavery and the growing
restrictions on free blacks. As a child, Banneker witnessed
how his white grandmother saved a group of free black chil-
dren from being taken away. In 1743, Banneker tried selling
tobacco for a better price out of their area, by taking a fate-
ful trip into Baltimore. He and a free black neighbor were
stopped; the neighbor (who had forgotten his free papers)
was taken away. Banneker continued alone to Baltimore,
where he was denied funds and his tobacco crop was taken
away from him. A Baltimore merchant, a Quaker named
William Qualles, witnessed this incident and befriendedcomparing slavery in Maryland and Virginia, where slaves
cultivated tobacco, with the cotton states of South Carolina
and Georgia where slavery was the most rigorous and harsh.
Although slavery was much the same everywhere, Ball noted
that the slave owners who lived on their plantations were
better masters, their presence creating greater oversight and
the intervention of mistresses whose compassion generally
resulted in better care for the slaves.
Ball married a woman by the name of Judah. Th ey
had three children, but in 1805, Ball was sold away from
his wife and family to a cotton plantation owner in South
Carolina. Ball gained fi rsthand knowledge of the brutality
of cotton agriculture and determined to make his escape.
Signifi cantly, Ball described how communalism enabled
those enslaved to survive the conditions of malnutrition
and overwork, limited clothing, and the ill-treatment of
mothers and infants. Aft er several escape attempts, Ball
returned to his family in Maryland shortly before the War
of 1812. Ball enlisted and worked for Commodore Barney
during the War of 1812 until 1814, sometimes as a seaman
and sometimes as a cook onboard ship.
Aft er his fi rst wife died in 1816, Ball married a woman
named Lucy in 1823 and had four more children. He and his
second wife were seized in 1830 and sold to a slave-dealer.
Ball was enslaved in Georgia, but he eventually made his
escape. He went to Philadelphia where he met Isaac Fisher,
a white lawyer, but fearing recapture, he left Philadelphia.
Th ere is no record of when or where he died. Although
many slave narratives are believed to be antislavery propa-
ganda, Ball’s autobiography is considered authentic. It was
republished in 1859 under the title Fift y Years in Chains.
See also: Fugitive Slaves; Slave Culture
Kay Wright LewisBibliography
Ball, Charles. Slavery in the United States: A Narrative of the Life
and Adventures of Charles Ball, A Black Man. 1837. New
York: Negro University Press, 1969.
Raboteau, Albert J. Slave Religion: Th e “Invisible Institution” in the
Antebellum South. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.
Banneker, Benjamin
Benjamin Banneker (1731–1806), a farmer, astronomer,
and mathematician, was born free at present-day Oella,
near Elliott’s Mills, Maryland. Banneker was notable for his