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-Her first book, "Poems on various subject, Religious, and moral" earned her rave reviews. She became the first black female poet. In 1778 she was given her freedom when the Wheatlys all passed away or left the colonies. Her poems caught the people's attention to the intelligence of the black race, and she also had an everlasting impact on the abolitionist movement.

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-She was born in Senegal.

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After being kidnapped from West Africa and enslaved in Boston, Phillis Wheatley became the first African American and one of the first women to publish a book of poetry in the colonies in 1773.

Who Was Phillis Wheatley?

Born in Senegal/Gambia in about 1753, poet Phillis Wheatley was brought to Boston, Massachusetts, on a slave ship in 1761 and was purchased by John Wheatley as a personal servant to his wife. The Wheatleys educated Phillis and she soon mastered Latin and Greek, going on to write highly acclaimed poetry. She published her first poem in 1767 and her first volume of verse, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, in 1773. Having been freed from slavery, she later married and struggled financially, with Wheatley unable to find a publisher for her second volume of poems. She died in Boston on December 5, 1784.

Thanks for watching! Visit Website

Early Years

A pioneering African-American poet, Phillis Wheatley was born in Senegal/Gambia around 1753. At the age of 8, she was kidnapped and brought to Boston on a slave ship. Upon her arrival, John Wheatley purchased the young girl, who was in fragile health, as a servant for his wife, Susanna.

Under the family's direction, Wheatley (who, as was the custom at the time, adopted her master's last name) was taken under Susanna's wing. Her quick intelligence was hard to miss, and as a result, Susanna and her two children taught Wheatley to read and was actively encouraged in her literary pursuits by the household.

Thanks for watching! Visit Website

Thanks for watching! Visit Website

Wheatley received lessons in theology, English, Latin and Greek. Ancient history was soon folded into the teachings, as were lessons in mythology and literature. At a time when African Americans were discouraged and intimidated from learning how to read and write, Wheatley's life was an anomaly.

Historical Achievement as Published Poet

Wheatley wrote her first published poem at around age 13. The work, a story about two men who nearly drown at sea, was printed in the Newport Mercury. Other published poems followed, with several also being published, further increasing Wheatley's fame.

In 1773, Wheatley gained considerable stature when her first and only book of verse, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, was published, with the writer having received patronage from Selina Hastings, the Countess of Huntingdon, in England. As proof of her authorship, the volume included a preface in which 17 Boston men, including John Hancock, asserted that she had indeed written the poems in it.

Poems on Various Subjects is a landmark achievement in U.S. history. In publishing it, Wheatley became the first African American and first U.S. slave to publish a book of poems, as well as the third American woman to do so.

A strong supporter of America's fight for independence, Wheatley penned several poems in honor of the Continental Army's commander, George Washington. Wheatley sent one of said works, written in 1775, to the future president, eventually inspiring an invitation to visit him at his headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Wheatley accepted the offer and visited Washington in March of 1776.

Struggles in Later Life

Wheatley had traveled to London to promote her poems and received medical treatment for a health ailment that she had been battling. After her return to Boston, Wheatley's life changed significantly. While ultimately freed from slavery, she was devastated by the deaths of several Wheatley family members, including Susanna (d. 1774) and John (d. 1778).

In 1778, Wheatley married a free African American from Boston, John Peters, with whom she had three children, all of whom died in infancy. Their marriage proved to be a struggle, with the couple battling constant poverty. Ultimately, Wheatley was forced to find work as a maid in a boarding house and lived in squalid, horrifying conditions.

Wheatley did continue to write, but the growing tensions with the British and, ultimately, the Revolutionary War, weakened enthusiasm for her poems. While she contacted various publishers, she was unsuccessful in finding support for a second volume of poetry.

Phillis Wheatley died in her early 30s in Boston, Massachusetts, on December 5, 1784.

Fact Check

We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
After being kidnapped from West Africa and enslaved in Boston, Phillis Wheatley became the first African American and one of the first women to publish a book of poetry in the colonies in 1773.

# data[].attributes.body
-Wheatley wrote her first published poem at around age 13.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
After being kidnapped from West Africa and enslaved in Boston, Phillis Wheatley became the first African American and one of the first women to publish a book of poetry in the colonies in 1773.

Who Was Phillis Wheatley?

Born in Senegal/Gambia in about 1753, poet Phillis Wheatley was brought to Boston, Massachusetts, on a slave ship in 1761 and was purchased by John Wheatley as a personal servant to his wife. The Wheatleys educated Phillis and she soon mastered Latin and Greek, going on to write highly acclaimed poetry. She published her first poem in 1767 and her first volume of verse, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, in 1773. Having been freed from slavery, she later married and struggled financially, with Wheatley unable to find a publisher for her second volume of poems. She died in Boston on December 5, 1784.

Thanks for watching! Visit Website

Early Years

A pioneering African-American poet, Phillis Wheatley was born in Senegal/Gambia around 1753. At the age of 8, she was kidnapped and brought to Boston on a slave ship. Upon her arrival, John Wheatley purchased the young girl, who was in fragile health, as a servant for his wife, Susanna.

Under the family's direction, Wheatley (who, as was the custom at the time, adopted her master's last name) was taken under Susanna's wing. Her quick intelligence was hard to miss, and as a result, Susanna and her two children taught Wheatley to read and was actively encouraged in her literary pursuits by the household.

Thanks for watching! Visit Website

Thanks for watching! Visit Website

Wheatley received lessons in theology, English, Latin and Greek. Ancient history was soon folded into the teachings, as were lessons in mythology and literature. At a time when African Americans were discouraged and intimidated from learning how to read and write, Wheatley's life was an anomaly.

Historical Achievement as Published Poet

Wheatley wrote her first published poem at around age 13. The work, a story about two men who nearly drown at sea, was printed in the Newport Mercury. Other published poems followed, with several also being published, further increasing Wheatley's fame.

In 1773, Wheatley gained considerable stature when her first and only book of verse, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, was published, with the writer having received patronage from Selina Hastings, the Countess of Huntingdon, in England. As proof of her authorship, the volume included a preface in which 17 Boston men, including John Hancock, asserted that she had indeed written the poems in it.

Poems on Various Subjects is a landmark achievement in U.S. history. In publishing it, Wheatley became the first African American and first U.S. slave to publish a book of poems, as well as the third American woman to do so.

A strong supporter of America's fight for independence, Wheatley penned several poems in honor of the Continental Army's commander, George Washington. Wheatley sent one of said works, written in 1775, to the future president, eventually inspiring an invitation to visit him at his headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Wheatley accepted the offer and visited Washington in March of 1776.

Struggles in Later Life

Wheatley had traveled to London to promote her poems and received medical treatment for a health ailment that she had been battling. After her return to Boston, Wheatley's life changed significantly. While ultimately freed from slavery, she was devastated by the deaths of several Wheatley family members, including Susanna (d. 1774) and John (d. 1778).

In 1778, Wheatley married a free African American from Boston, John Peters, with whom she had three children, all of whom died in infancy. Their marriage proved to be a struggle, with the couple battling constant poverty. Ultimately, Wheatley was forced to find work as a maid in a boarding house and lived in squalid, horrifying conditions.

Wheatley did continue to write, but the growing tensions with the British and, ultimately, the Revolutionary War, weakened enthusiasm for her poems. While she contacted various publishers, she was unsuccessful in finding support for a second volume of poetry.

Phillis Wheatley died in her early 30s in Boston, Massachusetts, on December 5, 1784.

Fact Check

We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us!

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After being kidnapped from West Africa and enslaved in Boston, Phillis Wheatley became the first African American and one of the first women to publish a book of poetry in the colonies in 1773.

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-She was purchased as a slave in Boston.

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On Phillis Wheatley

Portrait reportedly painted by Scipio Moorhead (S. M.)

For the best biography, check out Phillis Wheatley: Biography of a Genius in Bondage by Vincent Carretta (Univ. of GA Press, 2011).

In 1761 Phillis was purchased as a personal slave in Boston by Susannah Wheatley, wife of tailor John Wheatley. She was evidently around 7 years old at the time. Her only written memory of her birthplace was of her mother performing a ritual of pouring water before the sun as it rose; biographers conjecture she came from Senegal/Gambia and may have been a Fula, a Moslem people who read Arabic script. Very likely she was kidnapped into slavery; she was brought to Boston on a slaving vessel named "The Phillis."

She learned to speak and write English very quickly, taught by Mary Wheatley, the 18 year old daughter of her owner; within 16 months she could read difficult passages in the Bible. At 12 she began studying Latin and English literature, especially the poetry of Alexander Pope, soon translating Ovid into heroic couplets. These would have been remarkable accomplishments for an educated white male boy, and were virtually unheard of for white females. She may well have read Anne Bradstreet's poetry. The Wheatleys appreciated her talents, and showed her off to their friends; many came to visit with this "lively and brilliant conversationalist." She was thoroughly indoctrinated into the Calvinist theology of Congregationalism.

Phillis's place was designated by her white world, and she was virtually cut off from her own people, but she was definitely still a slave, although a privileged one. Though superior to most in her intellectual and literary accomplishments, she was clearly never their social equal. Perhaps that accounts for her not adopting Pope's major literary characteristic--satire--although she did adopt his poetic forms and classical allusions. Nevertheless, modern feminist critics have pointed out her subtle and hidden critical messages (which would have had to have been well hidden, so as not to offend the white benefactors upon whom she had to depend).

At the age of 20, the Wheatleys sent her to England for health (and exhibition?) reasons with her "young master," Nathaniel Wheatley, who was traveling on business. Her poem to Mrs. Wheatley suggests her affection for her: "Susannah mourns, not can I bear,/ To see the crystal shower, /Or mark the tender falling tear, /At sad departure's hour;"While there, her poetry, 'Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral" was published and dedicated to her English patron, Lady Huntingdon. She noted the hope that under her patronage "my feeble efforts will be shielded from the severe trials of uppity Criticism."

Attached to the volume was a statement from 18 prestigious Boston residents, as well as testimony from John Wheatley attesting to its authenticity:"The following is a Copy of a LETTER sent by the Author's Master to the Publisher. Phillis was brought from Africa to America, in the Year 1761, between Seven and Eight Years of Age. Without any Assistance from School Education, and by only what she was taught in the Family, she, in sixteen Months Time from her Arrival, attained the English Language, to which she was an utter Stranger before, to such a Degree, as to read any, the most difficult Parts of the Sacred Writings, to the great Astonishment of all who heard her. As to her WRITING, her own Curiosity led her to it; and this she learnt in so short a Time, that in the Year 1765, she wrote a LETTER to the Rev. Mr. Occom, the Indian Minister, while in England. She has a great Inclination to learn the Latin Tongue, and has made some Progress in it. This Relation is given by her Master who bought her, and with whom she now lives. John Wheatley. Boston, Nov. 14, 1772."

The following letter appeared in Connecticut Gazette, March 11, 1774, written by Wheatley to Reverend Samson Occum, 11 February 1774: "I have this Day received your obliging, kind Epistle, and am greatly satisfied with your Reasons respecting the negroes, and think highly reasonable what you offer in Vindication of their natural Rights: Those that invade them cannot be insensible that the divine Light is insensibly chasing away the thick Darkness which broods over the Land of Africa; and the Chaos which has reigned so long is converting into beautiful Order, and reveals more and more clearly the glorious Dispensation of civil and religious Liberty, which are so inseparably united, that there is little or no Enjoyment of one without the other: Otherwise, perhaps the Israelites had been less solicitous for their Freedom from Egyptian slvery; I do not say they would have been contented without it, by no means, for in every human Breast, God has implanted a Principle, which we call love of Freedom; it is impatient of oppression, and pants for Deliverance--and by the Leave of our modern Egyptians I will assert that the same principle lives in us. God grant Deliberance in his own Way and Time, and get him honour upon all those whose Avarice impels them to countenance and help forward the Calamities of their fellow Creatures. This I desire not for their Hurt, but to convince them of the strange Absurdity of their Conduct whose Words and Actions are so diametrically opposite, How well the Cry for Liberty, and the reverse Disposition for the exercise of oppressive power over others agree I humbly think it does not require the penetration of a Philosopher to determine."

Wheatley did reach out to other artists of color and they to her, as this letter and her poem to Scipio Moorhead show. She was also an inspiration for Jupiter Hammon, another African writer in America.

However, the death of Mrs. Wheatley in 1774 (whose illness required Phillis to return prematurely from London) and the Revolutionary war were to change her life drastically. War, not poetry, became the major concern, and many of her former patrons had dangerous British connections. She was freed after Mrs. Wheatley's death and married John Peters, but her life was chaotic. She wrote to her black friend Obour Tanner (who disapproved of the marriage) in 1778 (with her typically restrained style): "The vast variety of scenes that have pass'd before us these 3 years past will to a reasonable mind serve to convince us of the uncertain duration of all things temporal, and the proper result of such a consideration is an ardent desire of, & preparation for, a state and enjoyments which are more suitable to the immortal mind." Little is known of Peters, who was evidently handsome and educated, but unable to settle in any vocation. They lived in great poverty; she had three children and all died in infancy. She never found another patron for her poetry, though she continued to write poems, obscuring her own personal ordeals. She wrote over 100 poems, but at least 30 poems were evidently lost. Her long physical frailty, hard life and poverty led to her death at 31, with her third child dying shortly after.

Some critics have been disturbed that her poetry is not more attuned to modern politlcal and racial awareness, that she seems to have adopted a "white voice" and abandoned her own race. This hardly seems fair, though it has led many to focus on the tragedy of her life rather than her poetry. Collins argues that her work should also be explored to see how the slave mentality affected her self-identity, although he acknowledges her slave condition was most unusual. Is she demeaning her own blackness in many poems, or is she establishing credibility based on her unique experience? She had to tread a very fine line--between her own feelings, her patrons and readers, and the Christian God in whom she devoutedly believed. African-American feminist poets, such as Alice Walker and Naomi Madgett, have claimed Phillis as inspiration, if not a poetic model.

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On Phillis Wheatley Portrait reportedly painted by Scipio Moorhead (S. M.) For the best biography, check out Phillis Wheatley: Biography of a Genius in Bondage by Vincent Carretta (Univ. of GA Press, 2011). In 1761 Phillis was purchased as a personal slave in Boston by Susannah Wheatley, wife of tailor John Wheatley.

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-Received lessons in theology, English, Latin, and Greek.

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After being kidnapped from West Africa and enslaved in Boston, Phillis Wheatley became the first African American and one of the first women to publish a book of poetry in the colonies in 1773.

Who Was Phillis Wheatley?

Born in Senegal/Gambia in about 1753, poet Phillis Wheatley was brought to Boston, Massachusetts, on a slave ship in 1761 and was purchased by John Wheatley as a personal servant to his wife. The Wheatleys educated Phillis and she soon mastered Latin and Greek, going on to write highly acclaimed poetry. She published her first poem in 1767 and her first volume of verse, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, in 1773. Having been freed from slavery, she later married and struggled financially, with Wheatley unable to find a publisher for her second volume of poems. She died in Boston on December 5, 1784.

Thanks for watching! Visit Website

Early Years

A pioneering African-American poet, Phillis Wheatley was born in Senegal/Gambia around 1753. At the age of 8, she was kidnapped and brought to Boston on a slave ship. Upon her arrival, John Wheatley purchased the young girl, who was in fragile health, as a servant for his wife, Susanna.

Under the family's direction, Wheatley (who, as was the custom at the time, adopted her master's last name) was taken under Susanna's wing. Her quick intelligence was hard to miss, and as a result, Susanna and her two children taught Wheatley to read and was actively encouraged in her literary pursuits by the household.

Thanks for watching! Visit Website

Thanks for watching! Visit Website

Wheatley received lessons in theology, English, Latin and Greek. Ancient history was soon folded into the teachings, as were lessons in mythology and literature. At a time when African Americans were discouraged and intimidated from learning how to read and write, Wheatley's life was an anomaly.

Historical Achievement as Published Poet

Wheatley wrote her first published poem at around age 13. The work, a story about two men who nearly drown at sea, was printed in the Newport Mercury. Other published poems followed, with several also being published, further increasing Wheatley's fame.

In 1773, Wheatley gained considerable stature when her first and only book of verse, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, was published, with the writer having received patronage from Selina Hastings, the Countess of Huntingdon, in England. As proof of her authorship, the volume included a preface in which 17 Boston men, including John Hancock, asserted that she had indeed written the poems in it.

Poems on Various Subjects is a landmark achievement in U.S. history. In publishing it, Wheatley became the first African American and first U.S. slave to publish a book of poems, as well as the third American woman to do so.

A strong supporter of America's fight for independence, Wheatley penned several poems in honor of the Continental Army's commander, George Washington. Wheatley sent one of said works, written in 1775, to the future president, eventually inspiring an invitation to visit him at his headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Wheatley accepted the offer and visited Washington in March of 1776.

Struggles in Later Life

Wheatley had traveled to London to promote her poems and received medical treatment for a health ailment that she had been battling. After her return to Boston, Wheatley's life changed significantly. While ultimately freed from slavery, she was devastated by the deaths of several Wheatley family members, including Susanna (d. 1774) and John (d. 1778).

In 1778, Wheatley married a free African American from Boston, John Peters, with whom she had three children, all of whom died in infancy. Their marriage proved to be a struggle, with the couple battling constant poverty. Ultimately, Wheatley was forced to find work as a maid in a boarding house and lived in squalid, horrifying conditions.

Wheatley did continue to write, but the growing tensions with the British and, ultimately, the Revolutionary War, weakened enthusiasm for her poems. While she contacted various publishers, she was unsuccessful in finding support for a second volume of poetry.

Phillis Wheatley died in her early 30s in Boston, Massachusetts, on December 5, 1784.

Fact Check

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After being kidnapped from West Africa and enslaved in Boston, Phillis Wheatley became the first African American and one of the first women to publish a book of poetry in the colonies in 1773.

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-First published African American female poet.

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Phillis Wheatley Peters, also spelled Phyllis and Wheatly ( c. 1753 - December 5, 1784) was an American author who is considered the first African-American author of a published book of poetry. Born in West Africa, she was kidnapped and subsequently sold into slavery at the age of seven or eight and transported to North America, where she was bought by the Wheatley family of Boston. After she learned to read and write, they encouraged her poetry when they saw her talent.

On a 1773 trip to London with the Wheatleys' son, seeking publication of her work, Wheatley met prominent people who became her patrons. The publication in London of her Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral on September 1, 1773, brought her fame both in England and the American colonies. Prominent figures, such as George Washington, praised her work. A few years later, African-American poet Jupiter Hammon praised her work in a poem of his own.

Wheatley was emancipated by the Wheatleys shortly after the publication of her book of poems. The Wheatleys died soon thereafter and Phillis Wheatley married John Peters, a poor grocer. They lost three children, who all died young. Wheatley-Peters died in poverty and obscurity at the age of 31.

Phillis Wheatley's church, Old South Meeting House[6]

Although the date and place of her birth are not documented, scholars believe that Wheatley was born in 1753 in West Africa, most likely in present-day Gambia or Senegal. She was sold by a local chief to a visiting trader, who took her to Boston in the then British Colony of Massachusetts, on July 11, 1761, on a slave ship called The Phillis. The vessel was owned by Timothy Fitch and captained by Peter Gwinn.

On arrival in Boston, Wheatley was bought by the wealthy Boston merchant and tailor John Wheatley as a slave for his wife Susanna. The Wheatleys named her Phillis, after the ship that had transported her to North America. She was given their last name of Wheatley, as was a common custom if any surname was used for enslaved people.

The Wheatleys' 18-year-old daughter, Mary, was Phillis's first tutor in reading and writing. Their son, Nathaniel, also tutored her. John Wheatley was known as a progressive throughout New England; his family afforded Phillis an unprecedented education for an enslaved person, and one unusual for a woman of any race at the time. By the age of 12, Phillis was reading Greek and Latin classics in their original languages, as well as difficult passages from the Bible. At the age of 14, she wrote her first poem, "To the University of Cambridge [Harvard], in New England".

Recognizing her literary ability, the Wheatley family supported Phillis's education and left household labor to their other domestic enslaved workers. The Wheatleys often exhibited Phillis's abilities to friends and family. Strongly influenced by her readings of the works of Alexander Pope, John Milton, Homer, Horace and Virgil, Phillis began to write poetry.

In 1773, at the age of 20, Phillis accompanied Nathaniel Wheatley to London in part for her health (she suffered from chronic asthma), but primarlily because Susanna believed Phillis would have a better chance of publishing her book of poems there than in the colonies. Phillis had an audience with Frederick Bull, who was the Lord Mayor of London, and other prominent members of British society. (An audience with King George III was arranged, but Phillis had returned to Boston before it could take place.) Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon, became interested in the talented young African woman and subsidized the publication of Wheatley's volume of poems, which appeared in London in the summer of 1773. As Hastings was ill, the two never met.[page needed ]

After Phillis's book was published, by November 1773, the Wheatleys manumitted Phillis. Susanna Wheatley died in the spring of 1774, and John in 1778. Shortly after, Phillis met and married John Peters, an impoverished free black grocer. They lived in poor conditions and two of their babies died.

John was improvident and was imprisoned for debt in 1784. With a sickly infant son to provide for, Phillis became a scullery maid at a boarding house, doing work she had never done before; she developed pneumonia and died on December 5, 1784, at the age of 31, after giving birth to a daughter, who died the same day as her. Her infant son died soon after.[citation needed ]

Other writings

Wheatley wrote a letter to Reverend Samson Occom, commending him on his ideas and beliefs stating that enslaved people should be given their natural-born rights in America. Wheatley also exchanged letters with the British philanthropist John Thornton, who discussed Wheatley and her poetry in correspondence with John Newton. Through her letter writing, Wheatley was able to express her thoughts, comments and concerns to others.

In 1775, she sent a copy of a poem entitled "To His Excellency, George Washington" to the then-military general. The following year, Washington invited Wheatley to visit him at his headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which she did in March 1776. Thomas Paine republished the poem in the Pennsylvania Gazette in April 1776.

In 1779, Wheatley issued a proposal for a second volume of poems but was unable to publish it because she had lost her patrons after her emancipation; publication of books was often based on gaining subscriptions for guaranteed sales beforehand. The American Revolutionary War (1775-1783) was also a factor. However, some of her poems that were to be included in the second volume were later published in pamphlets and newspapers.

In 1768, Wheatley wrote "To the King's Most Excellent Majesty", in which she praised King George III for repealing the Stamp Act. But while discussing the idea of freedom, Wheatley was able subtly to raise the idea of freedom for enslaved subjects of the king as well:

May George, beloved by all the nations round,
Live with heav'ns choicest constant blessings crown'd!
Great God, direct, and guard him from on high,
And from his head let ev'ry evil fly!
And may each clime with equal gladness see
A monarch's smile can set his subjects free!

As the American Revolution gained strength, Wheatley's writing turned to themes that expressed ideas of the rebellious colonists.

In 1770, she wrote a poetic tribute to the evangelist George Whitefield. Her poetry expressed Christian themes, and many poems were dedicated to famous figures. Over one-third consist of elegies, the remainder being on religious, classical and abstract themes. She seldom referred to her own life in her poems. One example of a poem on slavery is "On being brought from Africa to America":

Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land,
Taught my benighted soul to understand
That there's a God, that there's a Saviour too:
Once I redemption neither sought nor knew.
Some view our sable race with scornful eye,
"Their colour is a diabolic dye."
Remember, Christians, Negroes, black as Cain,
May be refin'd, and join th' angelic train.

Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, 1773

Many colonists found it difficult to believe that an African slave was writing "excellent" poetry. Wheatley had to defend her authorship of her poetry in court in 1772. She was examined by a group of Boston luminaries, including John Erving, Reverend Charles Chauncey, John Hancock, Thomas Hutchinson, the governor of Massachusetts, and his lieutenant governor Andrew Oliver. They concluded she had written the poems ascribed to her and signed an attestation, which was included in the preface of her book of collected works: Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, published in London in 1773. Publishers in Boston had declined to publish it, but her work was of great interest to influential people in London.

There, Selina, Countess of Huntingdon and the Earl of Dartmouth acted as patrons to help Wheatley gain publication. Her poetry received comment in The London Magazine in 1773, which published her poem "Hymn to the Morning" as a specimen of her work, writing: "[t]hese poems display no astonishing power of genius; but when we consider them as the productions of a young untutored African, who wrote them after six months casual study of the English language and of writing, we cannot suppress our admiration of talents so vigorous and lively." Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral was printed in 11 editions until 1816.

In 1778, the African-American poet Jupiter Hammon wrote an ode to Wheatley ("An Address to Miss Phillis Wheatley"). His master Lloyd had temporarily moved with his slaves to Hartford, Connecticut, during the Revolutionary War. Hammon thought that Wheatley had succumbed to what he believed were pagan influences in her writing, and so his "Address" consisted of 21 rhyming quatrains, each accompanied by a related Bible verse, that he thought would compel Wheatley to return to a Christian path in life.

In 1838, Boston-based publisher and abolitionist Isaac Knapp published a collection of Wheatley's poetry, along with that of enslaved North Carolina poet George Moses Horton, under the title Memoir and Poems of Phillis Wheatley, A Native African and a Slave. Also, Poems by a Slave. Wheatley's memoir was earlier published in 1834 by Geo W. Light but did not include poems by Horton.

Thomas Jefferson, in his book Notes on the State of Virginia, was unwilling to acknowledge the value of her work or the work of any black poet. He wrote:

Misery is often the parent of the most affecting touches in poetry. Among the blacks is misery enough, God knows, but no poetry. Love is the peculiar oestrum of the poet. Their love is ardent, but it kindles the senses only, not the imagination. Religion indeed has produced a Phyllis Whately [] but it could not produce a poet. The compositions published under her name are below the dignity of criticism.

Style, structure, and influences on poetry

Wheatley believed that the power of poetry was immeasurable. John C. Shields, noting that her poetry did not simply reflect the literature she read but was based on her personal ideas and beliefs, writes:

Wheatley had more in mind than simple conformity. It will be shown later that her allusions to the sun god and to the goddess of the morn, always appearing as they do here in close association with her quest for poetic inspiration, are of central importance to her.

This poem is arranged into three stanzas of four lines in iambic tetrameter, followed by a concluding couplet in iambic pentameter. The rhyme scheme is ABABCC. Shields sums up her writing as being "contemplative and reflective rather than brilliant and shimmering."

She repeated three primary elements: Christianity, classicism and hierophantic solar worship. The hierophantic solar worship was part of what she brought with her from Africa; the worship of sun gods is expressed as part of her African culture, which may be why she used so many different words for the sun. For instance, she uses Aurora eight times, "Apollo seven, Phoebus twelve, and Sol twice." Shields believes that the word "light" is significant to her as it marks her African history, a past that she has left physically behind. He notes that Sun is a homonym for Son, and that Wheatley intended a double reference to Christ. Wheatley also refers to "heav'nly muse" in two of her poems: "To a Clergy Man on the Death of his Lady" and "Isaiah LXIII," signifying her idea of the Christian deity.

Classical allusions are prominent in Wheatley's poetry, which Shields argues set her work apart from that of her contemporaries: "Wheatley's use of classicism distinguishes her work as original and unique and deserves extended treatment." Particularly extended engagement with the Classics can be found in the poem "To Maecenas", where Wheatley uses references to Maecenas to depict the relationship between her and her own patrons, as well as making reference to Achilles and Patroclus, Homer and Virgil. At the same time, Wheatley indicates to the complexity of her relationship with Classical texts by pointing to the sole example of Terence as an ancestor for her works:

The happier Terence all the choir inspir'd,
His soul replenish'd, and his bosom fir'd;
But say, ye Muses, why this partial grace,
To one alone of Afric's sable race;

While some scholars have argued that Wheatley's allusions to classical material are based on the reading of other neoclassical poetry (such as the works of Alexander Pope), Emily Greenwood has demonstrated that Wheatley's work demonstrates persistent linguistic engagement with Latin texts, suggesting good familiarity with the ancient works themselves. Both Shields and Greenwood have argued that Wheatley's use of classical imagery and ideas was designed to deliver "subversive" messages to her educated, majority white audience, and argue for the freedom of Wheatley herself and other enslaved people.

Scholarly critique

Black literary scholars from the 1960s to the present in critiquing Wheatley's writing have noted the absence in it of her sense of identity as a black enslaved person. A number of black literary scholars have viewed her work-and its widespread admiration-as a barrier to the development of black people during her time and as a prime example of Uncle Tom syndrome, believing that Wheatley's lack of awareness of her condition of enslavement furthers this syndrome among descendants of Africans in the Americas.

Some scholars thought Wheatley's perspective came from her upbringing. Writing in 1974, Eleanor Smith argued that the Wheatley family took interest in her at a young age because of her timid and submissive nature. Using this to their advantage, the Wheatley family was able to mold and shape her into a person of their liking. The family separated her from other slaves in the home and she was prevented from doing anything other than very light housework. This shaping prevented Phillis from ever becoming a threat to the Wheatley family or other people from the white community. As a result, Phillis was allowed to attend white social events and this created a misconception of the relationship between black and white people for her.

The matter of Wheatley's biography, "a white woman's memoir", has been a subject of investigation. In 2020, American poet Honorée Fanonne Jeffers published her The Age of Phillis, based on the understanding that Margaretta Matilda Odell's account of Wheatley's life portrayed Wheatley inaccurately, and as a character in a sentimental novel; the poems by Jeffers attempt to fill in the gaps and recreate a more realistic portrait of Wheatley.

Legacy and honors

Phyllis Wheatley YWCA in the Shaw neighborhood of Washington, D.C.

With the 1773 publication of Wheatley's book Poems on Various Subjects, she "became the most famous African on the face of the earth." Voltaire stated in a letter to a friend that Wheatley had proved that black people could write poetry. John Paul Jones asked a fellow officer to deliver some of his personal writings to "Phillis the African favorite of the Nine (muses) and Apollo." She was honored by many of America's founding fathers, including George Washington, who wrote to her (after she wrote a poem in his honor) that "the style and manner [of your poetry] exhibit a striking proof of your great poetical Talents."

Critics consider her work fundamental to the genre of African-American literature, and she is honored as the first African-American woman to publish a book of poetry and the first to make a living from her writing.

In 1892 a Phyllis Wheatley Circle was formed in Greenville, Mississippi. and in 1896 the Phyllis Wheatley Circle.

She is commemorated on the Boston Women's Heritage Trail. The Phyllis Wheatley YWCA in Washington, D.C., and the Phillis Wheatley High School in Houston, Texas, are named for her, as are the Phyllis Wheatley School in Apopka, Florida, and the historic Phillis Wheatley School in Jensen Beach, Florida, now the oldest building on the campus of American Legion Post 126 (Jensen Beach, Florida). A branch of the Richland County Library in Columbia, South Carolina, which offered the first library services to black citizens, is named for her. A branch of the Rochester Public Library system in Rochester, New York was named for her when it was built in 1971. Phillis Wheatley Elementary School, New Orleans, opened in 1954 in Tremé, one of the oldest African-American neighborhoods in the US. The Phillis Wheatley Community Center opened in 1920 in Greenville, South Carolina, and in 1924 (spelled "Phyllis") in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

On July 16, 2019, at the London site where A. Bell Booksellers published Wheatley's first book in September 1773 (8 Aldgate, now the location of the Dorsett City Hotel), the unveiling took place of a commemorative blue plaque honoring her, organized by the Nubian Jak Community Trust and Black History Walks.

Wheatley is the subject of a project and play by British-Nigerian writer Ade Solanke entitled Phillis in London, which was showcased at the Greenwich Book Festival in June 2018. A 90-minute play by Solanke titled Phillis in Boston was presented at the Old South Meeting House in November 2023.

A 30-item collection of material related to Wheatley, including publications from her lifetime containing poems by her, was acquired by the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture in 2023.

References

1. Gates, Jr., Henry Louis, Trials of Phillis Wheatley: America's First Black Poet and Her Encounters with the Founding Fathers, Basic Civitas Books, 2010, p. 5. ISBN 9780465018505

2. For example, in the name of the ^ Phyllis Wheatley YWCA in Washington, D.C., where "Phyllis" is etched into the name over its front door (as can be seen in photos Archived September 15, 2016, at the Wayback Machine and corresponding text Archived September 15, 2016, at the Wayback Machine for that building's National Register nomination).

3. ^ Meehan, Adam; J. L. Bell. "Phillis Wheatley · George Washington's Mount Vernon". George Washington's Mount Vernon. Archived from the original on August 29, 2017.

4. ^ Cromwell, Adelaide M. (1994), The Other Brahmins: Boston's Black Upper Class, 1750-1950, University of Arkansas Press, OL 1430545M

5. Carretta, Vincent. ^ Complete Writings by Phillis Wheatley, New York: Penguin Books, 2001.

6. Odell, Margaretta M. ^ Memoir and Poems of Phillis Wheatley, a Native African and a Slave, Boston: Geo. W. Light, 1834.

7. Doak, Robin S. Phillis Wheatley: Slave and Poet, Minneapolis: Compass Point Books, 2007.[ISBN missing ]

8. ^ Paterson, David E. (Spring-Summer 2001). "A Perspective on Indexing Slaves' Names". American Archivist. 64: 132-142. doi:10.17723/aarc.64.1.th18g8t6282h4283.

9. ^ Wheatley, Phillis (1887). Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral. Denver, Colorado: W.H. Lawrence. pp. 120. Archived from the original on November 15, 2016.

10. ^ Scruggs, Charles (1998). "Phillis Wheatley". In Barker-Benfield, G. J. (ed.). Portraits of American Women: From Settlement to the Present. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 106. ISBN 978-0-19-512048-6.

11. ^ Adams, Catherine; Pleck, Elizabeth H. (2010). Love of Freedom: Black Women in Colonial and Revolutionary New England. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-538908-1.

12. ^ Bilbro, Jeffrey (Fall 2012). "Who are lost and how they're found: redemption and theodicy in Wheatley, Newton, and Cowper". Early American Literature. 47 (3): 570-575. doi:10.1353/eal.2012.0054. S2CID 162875678.

13. [^ https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/409/pg409-images.html#link2H_4_0007 POEMS ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS, RELIGIOUS AND MORAL By Phillis Wheatley]

14. ^ Phillis Wheatley Archived January 31, 2011, at the Wayback Machine page, comments on Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, University of Delaware. Retrieved October 5, 2007.

15. ^ "On Being Brought from Africa to America". Archived July 16, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, Web Texts, Virginia Commonwealth University

16. ^ Ellis Cashmore, review of The Norton Anthology of African-American Literature, Nellie Y. McKay and Henry Louis Gates, eds, New Statesman, April 25, 1997.

17. ^ Faherty, Duncan F. (2000). "Hammon, Jupiter". American National Biography Online. doi:10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.1600706.

18. Cavitch, Max. ^ American Elegy: The Poetry of Mourning from the Puritans to Whitman. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 2007: 193. ISBN 978-0-8166-4892-4.

19. Reising, Russell. (1996). Loose ends : closure and crisis in the American social text. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press. ISBN 0-8223-1891-1. OCLC 34875703.

20. ^ Matson, R. Lynn. "Phillis Wheatley--Soul Sister?." Phylon (1960-) 33, no. 3 (1972): 222-230.

21. ^ Smith, Eleanor (1974). "Phillis Wheatley: A Black Perspective". The Journal of Negro Education. 43 (3): 401-407. doi:10.2307/2966531. JSTOR 2966531.

22. Gates, The Trials of Phillis Wheatley, p. 33.

23. ^ "George Washington to Phillis Wheatley, February 28, 1776" Archived February 8, 2019, at the Wayback Machine. The George Washington Papers at the Library of Congress, 1741-1799.

24. Asante, Molefi Kete (2002). ^ 100 Greatest African Americans: A Biographical Encyclopedia, New York: Prometheus Books. ISBN 1-57392-963-8.

25. Historical Records of Conventions of 1895-96 of the Colored Women of America (PDF). 1902. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 9, 2022.

26. ^ "Nubian Jak unveils plaque to Phillis Wheatley 16 July" Archived July 19, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, History & Social Action News and Events, July 5, 2019.

27. Ladimeji, Dapo, ^ "Phyllis Wheatley - blue plaque unveiling 16 July 2019", African Century Journal, July 16, 2019.

28. ^ "Students meet literary world at Greenwich Book Festival", News, University of Greenwich, June 14, 2018.

29. ^ Schuessler, Jennifer (September 26, 2023). "Smithsonian Acquires Major Collection About Enslaved Poet". The New York Times.

Further reading

Primary materials

Biographies

Borland, Kathryn Kilby and Speicher, Helen Ross (1968). Phillis Wheatley: Young Colonial Poet. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill.

Gates, Henry Louis Jr. (2003). The Trials of Phillis Wheatley: America's First Black Poet and Her Encounters with the Founding Fathers, New York: Basic Civitas Books. ISBN 978-0-465-01850-5

Waldstreicher, David (2023). The Odyssey of Phillis Wheatley: A Poet's Journeys Through American Slavery and Independence. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 9780809098248. Review

Secondary materials

Abcarian, Richard and Marvin Klotz. "Phillis Wheatley," In Literature: The Human Experience, 9th edition. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2006: p. 1606.[ISBN missing ]

Barker-Benfield, Graham J. Phillis Wheatley Chooses Freedom: History, Poetry, and the Ideals of the American Revolution (NYU Press, 2018).[ISBN missing ]

Catalano, Robin (February 21, 2023). "Phillis Wheatley: The unsung Black poet who shaped the US". BBC Rediscovering America.

Chowdhury, Rowshan Jahan. "Restriction, Resistance, and Humility: A Feminist Approach to Anne Bradstreet and Phillis Wheatley's Literary Works." Crossings 10 (2019) 47-56 online

Waldstreicher, David. "The Wheatleyan Moment." Early American Studies (2011): 522-551. online

Waldstreicher, David. "Ancients, Moderns, and Africans: Phillis Wheatley and the Politics of Empire and Slavery in the American Revolution." Journal of the Early Republic 37.4 (2017): 701-733. online

Zuck, Rochelle Raineri. "Poetic Economics: Phillis Wheatley and the Production of the Black Artist in the Early Atlantic World." Ethnic Studies Review 33.2 (2010): 143-168 online.

Poetry (inspired by Wheatley)

External links

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Phillis Wheatley Peters, also spelled Phyllis and Wheatly ( c. 1753 - December 5, 1784) was an American author who is considered the first African-American author of a published book of poetry. Born in West Africa, she was kidnapped and subsequently sold into slavery at the age of seven or eight and transported to North America, where she was bought by the Wheatley family of Boston.

# data[].attributes.body
(1753-17844)