[600] Resolves, p. 131.

[601] Laws, 1780, chap. v. pp. 283, 284.

[602] Journal, vol. iv. pp. 308, 309.

[603] From Mr. Bancroft’s MSS., America, 1783, vol. ii.  Quoted by Dr. Moore.

[604] Sparks’s Washington, vol. viii. p. 428, note.

[605] Works of Hamilton, vol. vii. p. 191.

[606] Sparks’s Washington, vol. viii. pp. 431,432.

[607] Sparks’s Washington, vol. viii, Appendix, p. 544.

[608] U.S.  Statutes at large, vol. viii, pp. 54, 57.

[609] Ibid., pp. 80, 83.

[610] U.S.  Statutes at large, vol. viii. p. 218.

CHAPTER XXIX.

THE NEGRO INTELLECT.—­BANNEKER THE ASTRONOMER.[611].—­FULLER THE
MATHEMATICIAN.—­DERHAM THE PHYSICIAN.

     STATUTORY PROHIBITION AGAINST THE EDUCATION OF
     NEGROES.—­BENJAMIN BANNEKER, THE NEGRO ASTRONOMER AND
     PHILOSOPHER.—­HIS ANTECEDENTS.—­YOUNG BANNEKER AS A FARMER
     AND INVENTOR.—­THE MILLS OF ELLICOTT & Co.—­BANNEKER
     CULTIVATES HIS MECHANICAL GENIUS AND MATHEMATICAL
     TASTES.—­BANNEKER’S FIRST CALCULATION OF AN ECLIPSE
     SUBMITTED FOR INSPECTION IN 1789.—­HIS LETTER TO MR.
     ELLICOTT.—­THE TESTIMONY OF A PERSONAL 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.—­DAILY LIFE OF JAMES DERHAM.—­HIS
     KNOWLEDGE OF MEDICINES, 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.

From the moment slavery gained a foothold in North America until the direful hour that witnessed its dissolution amid the shock of embattled arms, learning was the forbidden fruit that no Negro dared taste.  Positive and explicit statutes everywhere, as fiery swords, drove him away hungry from the tree of intellectual life; and all persons were forbidden to pluck the fruit for him, upon pain of severe penalties.  Every yearning for intellectual food was answered by whips and thumb-screws.