Banneker further cleverly ascribes to himself and to Jefferson the same belief system, namely that "one universal Father hath given being to us all; and that he hath not only made us all of one flesh, but that he hat also, without partiality, afforded us all the same sensations and endowed us all with the same faculties." (Banneker 1791).

             This would have been, at the time, a substantial leap of faith on Banneker"s part; while certainly Jefferson was kind toward his own slaves, most European Americans did consider slaves not quite on the same plane of 'sentiment" and 'faculties" as they themselves. To propose that Jefferson"s viewpoint was more enlightened meant either that Banneker had come across some information supporting that belief, or, and probably more likely, Banneker was using a rhetorical device. Banneker wanted to gain Jefferson"s agreement with the concept that African Americans were equal to European Americans in every way. To gain that agreement, he first constructed the logical argument leading to that conclusion, flattered Jefferson"s intellect and good will, and then assumed that of course, Jefferson would concur. Jefferson could not, in fact, fail to concur at that point without seeming inconsistent in his own beliefs, considering the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution, both of which expressed Jefferson"s beliefs, or else he had been party to potentially lethal dissent for no logical or ethical purpose. Banneker doubtless assumed that Jefferson would not wish to appear, even to himself, to be either a liar or a fool.

             Banneker"s appeal to the Almighty was very likely to be a workable rubric under which to persuade Jefferson to act in favor of slaves. However, recent research in various quarters has pointed out that many of the Founding Fathers were not, in fact, Christian in the way we understand the term, or even as their contemporaries understood it.