It's hard to reconcile the fact that Thomas Jefferson, the author of the words, "all men are created equal" owned over 600 other human beings during his life. In 1791, Benjamin Banneker, a free African American man, author, surveyor, landowner and farmer from Maryland penned a letter to Jefferson laying out in bold, direct prose how the new nation was failing to live up to its founding principle of equality by continuing to allow the institution of slavery. What arguments did Banneker use, and how did he demonstrate the virtue of respect in his letter?