onal Acquaintance of
Banneker as to his Upright Character.--His Home becomes a
Place of Interest to Visitors.--Record of his Business
Transactions.--Mrs. Mason's Visit to him.--She addresses him
in Verse.--Banneker replies by Letter to her.--Prepares his
First Almanac for Publication in 1792.--Title of his
Almanac--Banneker's Letter to Thomas Jefferson.--Thomas
Jefferson's Reply.--Banneker invited to accompany the
Commissioners to run the Lines of the District of
Columbia.--Banneker's Habits of studying the Heavenly
Bodies.--Minute Description given to his Sisters in
Reference to the Disposition of his Personal Property after
Death.--His Death.--Regarded as the most Distinguished Negro
of his Time.--Fuller the Mathematician, or "The Virginia
Calculator."--Fuller of African Birth, but stolen and sold
as a Slave into Virginia.--Visited by Men of Learning.--He
was pronounced to be a Prodigy in the Manipulation of
Figures.--His Death.--Derham the Physician.--Science of
Medicine regarded as the most Intricate Pursuit of
Man.--Early Life of James Derham.--His Knowledge of
Medicine, how acquired.--He becomes a Prominent Physician in
New Orleans.--Dr. Rush gives an Account of an Interview with
him.--What the Negro Race produced by their Genius in
America. 385

CHAPTER XXX.

SLAVERY DURING THE REVOLUTION.

1775-1783.

Progress of the Slave-Trade.--A Great War for the
Emancipation of the Colonies from Political
Bondage.--Condition of the Southern States during the
War.--The Virginia Declaration of Rights.--Immediate
Legislation against Slavery demanded.--Advertisement from
"The Independent Chronicle."--Petition of Massachusetts
Slaves.--An Act preventing the Practice of holding Persons
in Slavery.--Advertisements from "The Continental
Journal."--A Law passed in Virginia limiting the Rights of
Slaves.--Law emancipating all Slaves who served in the
Army.--New York promises her Negro Soldiers Freedom.--A
Conscientious Minority in Favor of the Abolition of the
Slave-Trade.--Slavery flourishes during the Entire
Revolutionary Period. 402

CHAPTER XXXI.

SLAVERY AS A POLITICAL AND LEGAL PROBLEM.

1775-1800.

British Colonies in North Amer