... Slaves with these skills were in high demand to the United States, and we can still see some of their work in New Orleans in the metal work on the banisters and fences of the French Quarter of Louisiana (8). Most of the slaves' masters would take credit for their slaves' inventions. Benjamin Montgomery invented the modern day rotating propeller. Benjamin was the slave of Joseph Davis, the brother of Jefferson Davis. Benjamin was an intellectual black man, and he became the manager of the Davis estate. Benjamin, being the manager of the estate, was at access to the Davis's personal library where he gained much wisdom and knowledge. Later after the war Benjamin was able to patent his propeller and showed it at the World's Fair (8). There also was a man named Thomas Stewart who owned a slave simply known as "Ned". Ned created a cotton scraper that was more efficient than earlier models and Thomas Stewart wanted to patent this device. Thomas Stewart was unable to patent Ned's invention due to the fact that Ned was not a citizen because he was considered only property (8). Cyrus McCormick was the famous supposed inventor of the grain harvester, but even he admitted that his slave Jo Anderson helped created it. The truth was really that Jo had invented the harvester by himself, and Cyrus McCormick had patented the device as his own (8). After the Civil War slaves were freed from their masters but not from their ignorance. Many former slaves attempted to seek an education and, some of them turned to the famous Tuskegee Institute that produce such influential black people as George Washington Carver and the Tuskegee Airmen of WW2. Lewis Adams, a black political leader, helped two white democrats earn offices, so to return the favor they gave the approval to start the Tuskegee Institute (9). ...
