5 Quotes & Sayings By Benjamin Banneker

Born in Maryland on June 9, 1731, Benjamin Banneker was the first African-American to graduate from an American university and the first person of African descent to practice as a surveyor in America. Educated at home by his mother and later at the age of 13 at Thomas's Academy, Banneker's profession as a surveyor was not readily accepted by white landowners and he took different jobs such as schoolteacher and farmer. He eventually worked as an assistant to James Rumsey, an inventor who had built the first steamboat on the Potomac River during the 1780s. Banneker also helped survey land for George Washington during that same period.

1
Evil communication corrupts good manners. I hope to live to hear that good communication corrects bad manners. Benjamin Banneker
2
The colour of the skin is in no way connected with strength of the mind or intellectual powers. Benjamin Banneker
3
Standing at my door, I heard the discharge of a gun, and in four or five seconds of time, after the discharge, the small shot came rattling about me, one or two of which struck the house; which plainly demonstrates that the velocity of sound is greater than that of a cannon bullet. Benjamin Banneker
4
Presumption should never make us neglect that which appears easy to us, nor despair make us lose courage at the sight of difficulties. Benjamin Banneker