Benjamin Banneker Dyjai Heyward 5 th Period Feb

Benjamin Banneker Dyjai Heyward 5 th Period Feb. 27, 2012

Table Of Contents n n n n Page 3 -7…. Information on Benjamin Banneker 8 -11…. Pictures 12 -15… Black Artifacts Related to Slavery 16 -19… Pictures and Facts about the Civil Rights Movement Page 20… What Black History means & how you I feel if the tradition was broken. Page 21… Calender of Events Page 22…. Reference Page

Benjamin Banneker n Was born November 9, 1731 and he died October 9, 1806) was a free American Astronomer, mathematician, surveyor, almanac author and farmer.

Family History n It is difficult to verify much of Benjamin Banneker's family history. Some writers have stated that he was a grandson of a European American named Molly Welsh, who came to colonial America as an indentured servant. 2 Researchers have questioned this, as Banneker described himself only as having an African ancestry.

Family History n After his father died in 1759, Banneker lived with his mother and sisters. Then in 1771, a white Quaker family, the Ellicott's, moved into the area and built mills along the Patapsco River. Banneker supplied their workers with food, and studied the mills

How did it all start? n In 1788 he began his more formal study of astronomy as an adult, using books and equipment that George Ellicott lent to him. The following year, he sent George Ellicott his work on the solar eclipse.

Life Later On. n In February 1791, Major Andrew Ellicott, a member of the same family, hired Banneker to assist in the initial survey of the boundaries of the 100 -square-mile (260 km 2) federal district (initially, the Territory of Columbia; later, the District of Columbia) that Maryland Virginia would cede to the federal government of the united states for the nation's capital in accordance with the federal Residence Act of 1790 and later legislation (see Boundary Stones (District of Columbia)).

Slavery Artifacts n Slavery in America began when the first African slaves were brought to the North American colony of Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619, to aid in the production of such lucrative crops as tobacco. Slavery was practiced throughout the American colonies in the 17 th and 18 th centuries, and African-American slaves helped build the economic foundations of the new nation

Slavery Artifacts n The invention of the cotton gin in 1793 solidified the central importance of slavery to the South's economy. By the mid-19 th century, America's westward expansion, along with a growing abolition movement in the North, would provoke a great debate over slavery that would tear the nation apart in the bloody American Civil War (1861 -65).

Slavery Artifacts n Though the Union victory freed the nation's 4 million slaves, the legacy of slavery continued to influence American history, from the tumultuous years of Reconstruction (1865 -77) to the civil rights movement that emerged in the 1960 s, a century after emancipation.

Slavery Artifacts List of African American Slaves: n Fredrick Douglass n Harriet Tubman n Robert Blake n William Ellison n Robert Smalls n Madison Washington n

Civil Rights Movement n In 1960, when the civil rights movement first began to gain national attention, African Americans had been working to gain political and economic rights for nearly a century.

Civil Rights Movement n Blacks had made some progress, but the laws that many southern state legislatures had written to prevent blacks and whites from living as equals— called Jim Crow laws— continued to separate the races in restaurants, schools, theaters, parks, and other public facilities in many states in the South

Cilvil Rights Movement n Those blacks who had migrated to northern and western states in an attempt to escape the legal restrictions of Jim Crow laws found that life in these new locations had similar restrictions because of customs based on racial prejudice, or a judgment or opinion based on a preconceived notions about race.

Black History Month n Black History month means a lot to me. I love black history month. One reason is because its in the same month as my birthday, and another reason is because im an African American and so many strong women fought for us to be treated as equal as the white man. If the Black History Month tradition was broken I would be upset because this let us know how far we’ve came. Black History month is already in the shortest month of the year, so I just pray that the tradition is never broken.