With the new nation of The United States nearing the end of the 18th century, many people were still participating in the slave trade. Benjamin Banker decided to seek the help of the Secretary of State, Thomas Jefferson, in order to change the country’s position on slavery. By pointing out the faults in one of the most powerful documents in history and forcing Jefferson to decide his own remedies for the situation, Banker disputes a topic that to this day remains controversial.
Fifteen years before Jefferson received this letter from Banker, he was preparing one of the two most important documents in the history of this country: The Declaration of Independence. Banker repeats the most meaningful line in the document to show Jefferson that the men are created equal, and are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights… ” Excludes a great majority of the population. He challenges Jefferson morals by questioning if he believes that slaves are not considered “men”, and if not, why do they deserve to be treated any differently than any other person.
Banker also appeals to pathos by exposing this huge flaw in one of the critical mints of Jefferson greatest work. This helps to argue against slavery by urging Jefferson to attempt to make those words in iron pen speak truth once more. Banker compels Jefferson to make his own decisions about “the situation of [his] brethren” and “methods by which they may be relieved” by not listing any of his own. This technique forces Jefferson to realize the situation of the appalling natures of slavery for himself. It acts in the way of a rhetorical question by causing the audience to make their own assertions without asking a question at all.
This enables Banker to use Jefferson ethos as his own to better fortify his arguments against slavery by beginning them in Jefferson mind. When his audience formulates their own opinions, Banker is able to create a more effective argument because the audience feels more incline to agree with his discrepancies against slavery. Banker’s effective use of making his audience argue for him and challenging important documents that claimed to act for all men help him to argue against the appalling idea that was the slave trade of the late 18th century.
