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{{Short description|Enslaved African-American man with exceptional mathematical skills}}
⚫ '''Thomas Fuller''' (1710–1790), also known as Nigga Tom and the Virginia Calculator, was an enslaved African renowned for his mathematical abilities.
{{Infobox person
⚫ | birth_date = c. 1710
| birth_place = ] (around present-day ] and ])
| death_date = {{Death-date and age|December 1790|1710}}
| death_place = ], ], U.S.
⚫ }}

⚫ '''Thomas Fuller''' (1710 – December 1790), also known as "Negro Demus" and the "Virginia Calculator", was an ] African renowned for his ] abilities.<ref>Rouse Ball, W.W. (1960) ''Calculating Prodigies'', in Mathematical Recreations and Essays, Macmillan, New York, chapter 13.</ref>


==History== ==History==
Born on the ], likely somewhere between present-day ] and ],<ref name=":04">{{Cite journal |last=Fauvel |first=John |last2=Gerdes |first2=Paulus|author2-link=Paulus Gerdes |date=1990-05-01 |title=African slave and calculating prodigy: Bicentenary of the death of Thomas Fuller |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/031508609090050N |journal=Historia Mathematica |language=en |volume=17 |issue=2 |pages=141–151 |doi=10.1016/0315-0860(90)90050-N |issn=0315-0860|doi-access=free }}</ref> Fuller was kidnapped and shipped to ] in 1724, at the age of 14. He became enslaved by Elizabeth Cox of ].<ref name=":33">Columbian Centinel & Davis, Aaron. Thomas Fuller Obituary, Columbian Centinel (December 29, 1790). (2020, December 07). In ''Encyclopedia Virginia.'' https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/thomas-fuller-obituary-columbian-centinel-december-29-1790 .</ref> Despite his mathematical skill, Fuller was ].<ref>Fey, J., & Alexander, J. W. (1969). Calculating prodigies. In ''Historical topics for the mathematics classroom'', pp. 159–160. Washington: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.</ref> ] researcher ] theorizes that Fuller may have been ], comparing his abilities to their mathematical traditions.<ref name=":42">{{Cite book |last=Eglash |first=Ron |title=African Fractals: Modern Computing and Indigenous Design |publisher=Rutgers University Press |year=1999 |isbn=0813526140 |pages=122}}</ref> Before ], the Bassari used to have "specialists who were trained in the memorization of sums".<ref name=":42" />
Born in Africa somewhere between present-day ] and ], Fuller was enslaved and shipped to America in 1724 at the age of 14, eventually becoming the legal property of Mrs. Elizabeth Cox of ]. Stories of his abilities abounded through the Eastern seaboard. His skill was even used as proof that enslaved Blacks were equal to whites in intelligence, which fueled some pro-abolitionist discussion.


Stories of his mathematical achievements spread through the ] and reached as far as ] and ], becoming fuel for the ].<ref name=":14">{{Cite journal |last=Thornton |first=Tamara Plakins |date=2022 |title="A Most Astonishing Genius for Calculations": Arithmetical Prodigies, the Science of the Mind, and Human Difference in the Early Republic |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/56/article/863020 |journal=Journal of the Early Republic |volume=42 |issue=3 |pages=389–420 |doi=10.1353/jer.2022.0069 |issn=1553-0620}}</ref>
⚫ ==Documentation of abilities==
When Fuller was about seventy years old, William Hartshorne and Samuel Coates of Pennsylvania were in Alexandria and, having heard of Fuller's powers, sent for him. They asked him two questions which satisfied their curiosity.


⚫ == Documentation of abilities ==
First, when they asked him how many seconds there were in a year and a half, he answered in about two minutes, 47,304,000. Second, when they asked how many seconds a man has lived who is 70 years, 17 days and 12 hours old, he answered in a minute and a half 2,210,500,800. One of the men was working out the problems on paper, and informed Fuller that he was wrong, because the answer was much smaller. Fuller hastily replied, "Stop, master, you forget the leap year." When the leap year was added in, the sums matched.<ref> American Museum, Vol.V, 62, Phila., 1799</ref>
When Fuller was about 70 years old, William Hartshorne and Samuel Coates, members of the ], heard about Fuller's "extraordinary powers in arithmetic."'''<ref name=":23">Rush, Benjamin (1789). Account of a wonderful talent for arithmetical calculation, in an African slave, living in Virginia. ]: pp. 62–63.</ref>''' The pair stopped their travels to investigate Fuller.<ref name=":23" /> ], ] and ], had sought proof of Black intelligence, through the lens of "] achievement", to bolster antislavery causes '''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Herschthal |first=Eric |title=The Science of Abolition: How Slaveholders Became the Enemies of Progress |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2021 |isbn=978-0-300-23680-4}}</ref>'''. Through his membership in PAS, Rush was acquainted with Hartshorne and Coates and reported on their interview of Fuller in the '']''.<ref name=":14" />'''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Needles |first=Edward |title=An Historical Memoir of the Pennsylvania Society For Promoting the Abolition of Slavery: the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage and for Improving the Condition of the African Race |publisher=Merrihew & Thompson, Printers |year=1848 |publication-place=Philadelphia}}</ref>''' In this report, Rush stressed the credibility of Hartshorne and Coates.<ref name=":04" /> Rush retold how Hartshorne and Coates tested Fuller's mathematical abilities as follows: <ref name=":04" /><blockquote>First. Upon being asked, how many seconds there are in a year and a half, he answered in about two minutes, 47,304,000.

Second. On being asked how many seconds a man has lived, who is seventy years, seventeen days and twelve hours old, he answered, in a minute and a half, 2,210,500,800.

One of the gentlemen, who employed himself with his pen in making these calculations, told him he was wrong, and that the sum was not so great as he had said-upon which the old man hastily replied, "top, massa, you forget de leap year." On adding the seconds of the leap years to the others, the amount of the whole in both their sums agreed exactly.

Third. The following question was then proposed to him: suppose a farmer has six sows, and each sow has six female pigs, the first year, and they all increase in the same proportion, to the end of eight years, how many sows will the farmer then have? In ten minutes, he answered, 34,588,806. The difference of time between his answering this, and the two former questions, was occasioned by a trifling mistake he made from a misapprehension of the question.</blockquote>Despite Fuller's perfect answers, it appeared to Hartshorne and Coates that his mental abilities must have once been more extraordinary. Rush wrote: <ref name=":23" /><blockquote>He was grey-headed, and exhibited several other marks of the weakness of old age. He had worked hard upon a farm during the whole of life but had never been intemperate in the use of spirituous liquors. He spoke with great respect of his mistress, and mentioned in a particular manner his obligations to her for refusing to sell him, which she had been tempted to by offers of large sums of money from several persons. One of the gentlemen, Mr. Coates, having remarked in his presence that it was a pity he had not an education equal to his genius, he said, "No, ], it is best I had no learning, for many learned men be great fools."</blockquote>The only other "independent original" source documenting Fuller's abilities besides Rush is Fuller's ].<ref name=":04" /> Fuller's obituary, published ] in the '']'' in 1790, tells how he could mentally calculate correct answers to complicated questions faster than people calculating by hand could.<ref name=":33" /> It also reported minor details of his life.<ref name=":33" /> The obituary went on to say, "Had his opportunity of improvement been equal to those of thousands of his fellow-men, neither the ], the ], nor even a ] himself, need have been ashamed to acknowledge him a Brother in Science".<ref name=":33" />

== Influence on abolitionist movement ==
Due to Rush's involvement in the abolitionist movement, the ]-based ] reached out to him for "accounts of mental improvement" of Black people so they could counter those who said they were inferior.<ref name=":23" /> Along with information about Fuller, Rush shared the story of a Black doctor he knew personally, ].<ref name=":14" /> Testimony of Fuller's abilities spread beyond American periodicals. French revolutionaries ] and ] wrote of Fuller as an example of why Black people should have equal rights.<ref name=":04" /> Brissot stated, "These instances prove, without a doubt that the capacity of the negroes may be extended to anything; that they have only need of instruction and liberty".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brissot de Warville |first=J.P. (Jacques Pierre) |title=New travels in the United States of America. Performed in 1788. |date= |publisher=Printed for J. S. Jordan, No. 166, Fleet-Street |year=1794 |lccn=16012303 |oclc=1280179}}</ref>


==References== ==References==
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*{{MacTutor|id=Fuller_Thomas|title=Thomas Fuller}} *{{MacTutor|id=Fuller_Thomas|title=Thomas Fuller}}


{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see ]. -->
| NAME = Fuller, Thomas
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
⚫ | DATE OF BIRTH = 1710
| PLACE OF BIRTH =
| DATE OF DEATH = 1790
| PLACE OF DEATH =
⚫ }}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fuller, Thomas}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Fuller, Thomas}}
] ]
⚫ ]
]
] ]
]
]
]
⚫ ]

Latest revision as of 06:58, 21 August 2024

Enslaved African-American man with exceptional mathematical skills
Thomas Fuller
Bornc. 1710
African continent (around present-day Liberia and Benin)
DiedDecember 1790 (1791-01) (aged 79)
Alexandria, Virginia, U.S.

Thomas Fuller (1710 – December 1790), also known as "Negro Demus" and the "Virginia Calculator", was an enslaved African renowned for his mathematical abilities.

History

Born on the African continent, likely somewhere between present-day Liberia and Benin, Fuller was kidnapped and shipped to America in 1724, at the age of 14. He became enslaved by Elizabeth Cox of Alexandria, Virginia. Despite his mathematical skill, Fuller was illiterate. Ethnomathematics researcher Ron Eglash theorizes that Fuller may have been Bassari, comparing his abilities to their mathematical traditions. Before colonialism, the Bassari used to have "specialists who were trained in the memorization of sums".

Stories of his mathematical achievements spread through the East Coast of the United States and reached as far as France and Germany, becoming fuel for the abolitionist movement.

Documentation of abilities

When Fuller was about 70 years old, William Hartshorne and Samuel Coates, members of the Pennsylvania Abolition Society (PAS), heard about Fuller's "extraordinary powers in arithmetic." The pair stopped their travels to investigate Fuller. Benjamin Rush, physician and Founding Father, had sought proof of Black intelligence, through the lens of "scientific achievement", to bolster antislavery causes . Through his membership in PAS, Rush was acquainted with Hartshorne and Coates and reported on their interview of Fuller in the Columbian Magazine. In this report, Rush stressed the credibility of Hartshorne and Coates. Rush retold how Hartshorne and Coates tested Fuller's mathematical abilities as follows:

First. Upon being asked, how many seconds there are in a year and a half, he answered in about two minutes, 47,304,000.

Second. On being asked how many seconds a man has lived, who is seventy years, seventeen days and twelve hours old, he answered, in a minute and a half, 2,210,500,800.

One of the gentlemen, who employed himself with his pen in making these calculations, told him he was wrong, and that the sum was not so great as he had said-upon which the old man hastily replied, "top, massa, you forget de leap year." On adding the seconds of the leap years to the others, the amount of the whole in both their sums agreed exactly.

Third. The following question was then proposed to him: suppose a farmer has six sows, and each sow has six female pigs, the first year, and they all increase in the same proportion, to the end of eight years, how many sows will the farmer then have? In ten minutes, he answered, 34,588,806. The difference of time between his answering this, and the two former questions, was occasioned by a trifling mistake he made from a misapprehension of the question.

Despite Fuller's perfect answers, it appeared to Hartshorne and Coates that his mental abilities must have once been more extraordinary. Rush wrote:

He was grey-headed, and exhibited several other marks of the weakness of old age. He had worked hard upon a farm during the whole of life but had never been intemperate in the use of spirituous liquors. He spoke with great respect of his mistress, and mentioned in a particular manner his obligations to her for refusing to sell him, which she had been tempted to by offers of large sums of money from several persons. One of the gentlemen, Mr. Coates, having remarked in his presence that it was a pity he had not an education equal to his genius, he said, "No, Massa, it is best I had no learning, for many learned men be great fools."

The only other "independent original" source documenting Fuller's abilities besides Rush is Fuller's obituary. Fuller's obituary, published anonymously in the Columbian Centinel in 1790, tells how he could mentally calculate correct answers to complicated questions faster than people calculating by hand could. It also reported minor details of his life. The obituary went on to say, "Had his opportunity of improvement been equal to those of thousands of his fellow-men, neither the Royal Society of London, the Academy of Sciences at Paris, nor even a Newton himself, need have been ashamed to acknowledge him a Brother in Science".

Influence on abolitionist movement

Due to Rush's involvement in the abolitionist movement, the London-based Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade reached out to him for "accounts of mental improvement" of Black people so they could counter those who said they were inferior. Along with information about Fuller, Rush shared the story of a Black doctor he knew personally, James Derham. Testimony of Fuller's abilities spread beyond American periodicals. French revolutionaries Jacques Pierre Brissot and Henri Grégoire wrote of Fuller as an example of why Black people should have equal rights. Brissot stated, "These instances prove, without a doubt that the capacity of the negroes may be extended to anything; that they have only need of instruction and liberty".

References

  1. Rouse Ball, W.W. (1960) Calculating Prodigies, in Mathematical Recreations and Essays, Macmillan, New York, chapter 13.
  2. ^ Fauvel, John; Gerdes, Paulus (1990-05-01). "African slave and calculating prodigy: Bicentenary of the death of Thomas Fuller". Historia Mathematica. 17 (2): 141–151. doi:10.1016/0315-0860(90)90050-N. ISSN 0315-0860.
  3. ^ Columbian Centinel & Davis, Aaron. Thomas Fuller Obituary, Columbian Centinel (December 29, 1790). (2020, December 07). In Encyclopedia Virginia. https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/thomas-fuller-obituary-columbian-centinel-december-29-1790 .
  4. Fey, J., & Alexander, J. W. (1969). Calculating prodigies. In Historical topics for the mathematics classroom, pp. 159–160. Washington: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
  5. ^ Eglash, Ron (1999). African Fractals: Modern Computing and Indigenous Design. Rutgers University Press. p. 122. ISBN 0813526140.
  6. ^ Thornton, Tamara Plakins (2022). ""A Most Astonishing Genius for Calculations": Arithmetical Prodigies, the Science of the Mind, and Human Difference in the Early Republic". Journal of the Early Republic. 42 (3): 389–420. doi:10.1353/jer.2022.0069. ISSN 1553-0620.
  7. ^ Rush, Benjamin (1789). Account of a wonderful talent for arithmetical calculation, in an African slave, living in Virginia. The American Museum: pp. 62–63.
  8. Herschthal, Eric (2021). The Science of Abolition: How Slaveholders Became the Enemies of Progress. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-23680-4.
  9. Needles, Edward (1848). An Historical Memoir of the Pennsylvania Society For Promoting the Abolition of Slavery: the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage and for Improving the Condition of the African Race. Philadelphia: Merrihew & Thompson, Printers.
  10. Brissot de Warville, J.P. (Jacques Pierre) (1794). New travels in the United States of America. Performed in 1788. Printed for J. S. Jordan, No. 166, Fleet-Street. LCCN 16012303. OCLC 1280179.

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