9781422283271

Chapter 1

Benjamin Banneker

Born: 1731 Died: 1806 Nationality: American Achievements: Creative inventor and watchmaker who defied the odds to succeed in a divided time

B

enjamin Banneker is a somewhat divisive figure among histori- ans. Many hail him as one of the most important African-Amer-

ican inventors who ever lived, as well as a pioneering astronomer, mathematician, and statesman; others assert that his achieve- ments have become exaggerated over time or that some accomplishments have been falsely attributed to him. Historians have not reached consensus even on Banneker’s ancestry. It is known that he was born on November 9, 1731, in Balti- more County, Maryland. His mother, Mary, had been born into freedom, and his father, Robert, was a freed slave who had been brought to the U.S. from Guinea. Although some early sources assert that there are no white ancestors in Banneker’s family tree, later biographers believe that his maternal

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