Benjamin Banneker encountered the restrictions put on colored people of his time. He encountered stereotypes and many mental boundaries of the mind. Most colonial citizens thought that African Americans were less than human. Banneker showed them that they were equal by learning how to read (Most people could not in this time), along with constructing an almanac that required a substantial amount of intelligence. He pushed his mind to do better and better things. Banneker had a lust for learning and learned fast, going through books and acquiring knowledge. This lust and amount of learning made "white" people treat him like an equal, not like a lesser being.