The idea of slavery is opposed by the opinion of Benjamin Banneker. Banneker wrote a letter to Thomas Jefferson, the framer of the Declaration of Independence arguing against slavery. In his letter he uses many rhetorical devices to support his argument against slavery. Some of the strategies included the use of metonymy, holy war, last resort, and bandwagon. All of these devices contributed to a stronger argument for Banneker to argue against Jefferson’s idea of slavery. The author uses a metonymy when he refers to the British King. “Sir, suffer me to recall to your mind that time in which the arms and tyranny of the British Crown were exerted with every powerful effort in order to reduce you to a state of servitude”(lines 1-4). The author uses a metonymy when he refers to the King as the British Crown. Another rhetorical device used to support his opinion is holy war.”You cannot but acknowledge that the present freedom…show more content… “You publicly held forth this truth and valuable doctrine, which is worthy to be recorded and remembered in all succeeding ages. We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, and that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”(line 20-25). The author uses this to argue because Jefferson honored the Declaration and now he is turning against what he used to follow. The author uses facts to support his argument by citing a passage from the Declaration. Benjamin Banneker uses the rhetorical device bandwagon to make the audience agree with his side. “So fully convinced of the benevolence of the father of mankind and of his equal and impartial distribution of those rights and privileges”(line 32-34). Banneker uses this bandwagon to inform the audience that the people are not getting their fair rights, and that it is not right to have slavery affect these
