Jefferson contradicted himself many times with his beliefs on politics and the issue of race and slavery. He gradually attempted to end slavery in the United States early in his career. Banneker wrote this letter due to his growing anger towards people who believed that blacks were inferior to whites. For example, Thomas Jefferson once said that blacks were “inferior to whites in both body and mind.” There were many people who made claims like that, and although Banneker was not an enslaved African American, he didn't like it. In the letter Banneker talks about independence and how difficult it was for the United States. It's about the British Crown and how they tried to reduce the colonists to servitude. In this way, he was trying to highlight the similarities between British imperialism and slavery. He then goes on to quote Jefferson from the Declaration of Independence and introduce the aspect of God by saying, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, and that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”'. Jefferson responds politely, but appears to view Banneker's intelligence as an African American as an exception. For this reason, Jefferson did little to help Banneker. While it did not have a significant impact on Thomas Jefferson, it helped show how socially and morally wrong slavery was