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Black History and Blacks in U.S. History
Colonial America (1492-1765)

Benjamin Banneker - Who Was He?

Benjamin Banneker - Who Was He?
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 4 to 5
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   6

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    astronomy, curiosity, duplicate, eclipse, mathematics, schooling, education, quakers, lifetime, sponsor, colonial, well-known, theory, equally, slave, fell
     content words:    Benjamin Banneker, Many Americans, Banna Ka, Because Molly, President George Washington, President Thomas Jefferson

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Benjamin Banneker - Who Was He?
By Jane Runyon 		  
1     Have you ever heard of Benjamin Banneker? Do you know what made him special? Many Americans have never heard of this early black American. Yet, he was very important in America's colonial period.
 
2     Benjamin Banneker was born on November 9, 1731. At this time in history, if a child's mother was a slave, the child was a slave. If the mother was not a slave, the child was a free black. Benjamin's grandmother, Molly, was a free black woman. She came to the colonies as an indentured servant.
 
3     Molly worked for her sponsor for seven years. In the seven years she was able to pay for her passage to America and buy her freedom. She also saved enough to buy a small farm. She bought a slave named Banna Ka. He helped her work the farm.
 
4     Molly fell in love with Banna Ka. They married. To sound more American, Molly and her husband changed their name to Bannaky. Finally, the name changed to Banneker. Molly and her husband had a daughter, Mary. Because Molly was a free woman, Mary was a free black.
 
5     Mary married a former slave named Rodger. Rodger had worked to buy his freedom. Mary and Rodger had a son they named Benjamin. His family worked the small farm his grandmother had owned. They didn't have a lot of money, but they were free.

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