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Early years
Phillis Wheatley's church, Old South Meeting House
Born around 1753 in what is the modern day Senegal, Wheatley was kidnapped and taken to
America in 1761 aboard a slave ship called "Phillis" (from which she received her name). She
was purchased in Boston by a wealthy merchant named John Wheatley and his family.
Wheatleys both instructed her and encouraged her education,[3] including study of foreign
languages such as Latin, and history. Phillis Wheatley was tutored by the Wheatley’s son,
Nathaniel, in English, Latin, history, geography, religion, and the Bible. Wheatley was baptized
at Old South Meeting House.[4]
[edit] Later years
Phillis’s popularity as a poet both in the United States and England ultimately brought her
freedom from slavery on October 18, 1773. She appeared before General Washington in March,
1776 for her poetry and was a strong supporter of independence during the Revolutionary War.
She married a free black grocer named John Peters. This marriage produced three children, two
of whom soon died. Her husband left her and Wheatley earned a living as a servant. By 1784 she
was living in a boarding house and, in December of that year, she and her remaining child died
and were buried in an unmarked grave. She died in poverty at the age of 31. Wheatley's third
child died only a few hours after her death. At the time of her death, there was a second volume
of poetry but no publishers were willing to publish it.
[edit] Poetry
In 1768, Wheatley wrote "To the King's Most Excellent Majesty," in which she praised George
III for repealing the Stamp Act.[5] However, as the American Revolution gained strength,
Wheatley turned to writing about themes from the point of view of the colonists.
John Wheatley's grave in Granary Burying Ground. Phillis Wheatley's grave is unmarked
In 1770 Wheatley wrote a poetic tribute to George Whitefield that received widespread acclaim.
Wheatley's poetry overwhelmingly revolves around Christian themes, with many poems
dedicated to famous personalities. Over one-third consist of elegies, the remainder being on
religious, classical and abstract themes.[6] She rarely mentions her own situation in her poems.
One of the few which refers to 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.´
Because many white people of the time found it hard to believe that a black woman could be so
intelligent as to write poetry, in 1772 Wheatley had to defend her literary ability in court.[7][8] 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 that she had in fact written the poems
ascribed to her and signed an attestation which was published in the preface to her book Poems
on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral published in Aldgate, London in 1773. The book was
published in London because publishers in Boston had refused to publish the text. Wheatley and
her master's son, Nathanial Wheatley, went to London, where Selina, Countess of Huntingdon
and the Earl of Dartmouth helped with the publication.
Through her poetry, Wheatley is credited with helping found African American literature.[9]
In 1778, African American poet Jupiter Hammon wrote an ode to Wheatley. Hammon never
mentions himself in the poem, but it appears that in choosing Wheatley as a subject, he was
acknowledging their common bond.
[edit] Style
Wheatley wrote in the formal poetic style that was popular in her time,[10][11] often focusing on
moral and religious subjects.
[edit] Recognition and legacy
Phillis Wheatley statue on Commonwealth Ave. in Boston as part of the Boston Women's Memorial
With the 1774 publication of Wheatley's book Poems on Various Subjects, she "became the most
famous African on the face of the earth. [12] Voltaire wrote 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."[13] She was
also honored by many of America's founding fathers, including George Washington.
Wheatley's book is today seen as helping create the genre of African American literature.[14]
There is a building named in her honor at the University of Massachusetts Boston.
[edit] Poems by Phillis Wheatley
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Poems by Phillis Wheatley, "An Address to the Atheist" and "An Address to the Deist," 1767
"To the King's Most Excellent Majesty" 1768
Poem by Phillis Wheatley, "Athiesim," July 1769
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"An Elegiac Poem On the Death of that celebrated Divine, and eminent Servant of Jesus Christ,
the Reverend and Learned Mr. George Whitefield," 1771
Poem by Phillis Wheatley, "A Poem of the Death of Charles Eliot ...," 1 September 1772
Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral (title page and frontispiece of 1773 edition)
Poem by Phillis Wheatley, "To His Honor the Lieutenant Governor on the death of his Lady," 24
March 1773
"An Elegy, To Miss Mary Moorhead, On the Death of her Father, The Rev. Mr. John Moorhead,"
1773
"An Elegy, Sacred to the Memory of the Great Divine, the Reverend and the Learned Dr. Samuel
Cooper," 1784
"Liberty and Peace, A Poem" 1784
Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral (title page and front matter of 1802 edition)
"To the Right and Honorable William, Earl of Dartmouth ..." from Poems of Various Subjects,
Religious and Moral (1802 edition)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phillis_Wheatley
Phillis Wheatley
America's First Black Woman Poet
Phillis Wheatley was America's first black poet.
Born in Senegal, Africa in 1753, she was sold into slavery at the age of seven to John and Susannah Wheatley of
Boston. Although originally brought into the Wheatley household as a servant and attendant to Wheatley's wife,
Phillis was soon accepted as a member of the family, and was raised with the Wheatley's other two children.
Phillis soon displayed her remarkable talents by learning to read and write English. At the age of twelve she was
reading the Greek and Latin classics, and passages from the Bible. At thirteen she wrote her first poem.
Phillis became a Boston sensation after she wrote a poem on the death of the evangelical preacher George Whitefield
in 1770. Three years later thirty-nine of her poems were published in London as "Poems on Various Subjects,
Religious and Moral." It was the first book to be published by a black American.
Most of Phillis Wheatley's poems reflect her religious and classical New England upbringing. Writing in heroic
couplets, many of her poems consist of elegies while others stress the theme of Christian salvation.
Although racial equality is not a theme to be found in Phillis Wheatley's poetry, one allusion of injustice appears in
one of her poems which appears below.
http://www.earlyamerica.com/review/winter96/wheatley.html
Phillis Wheatley
Narrative and Critical History of America Vol. 8
Houghton Mifflin Company © www.arttoday.com
NAME: Phillis Wheatley
DATE OF BIRTH: c. 1753-5
PLACE OF BIRTH: Gambia, Africa
DATE OF DEATH: December, 1784
PLACE OF DEATH: Boston, Massachusetts as a result of childbirth
FAMILY BACKGROUND: Phillis Wheatley was a slave child of seven or eight and sold to John and
Susanna Wheatley in Boston on July 11, 1761. Her first name was apparently derived from the ship that
carried her to America, The Phillis.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS: During her life, while it was not common for American women to be published,
it was especially uncommon for children of slaves to be educated at all. Her gift of writing poetry was
encouraged by her owners and their daughter, Mary; they taught Phillis to read and write, with her first
poem being published at the age of twelve, "On Messrs. Hussey and Coffin." The countess of Huntingdon,
Selina Hastings, was a friend of the Wheatley's who greatly encouraged and financed the publication of
her book of poetry, Poems. Obour Tanner, a former slave who made the journey through the middle
passage with Phillis also was one of the chief influences and supporters of Phillis' craft.
She was especially fond of writing in the elegiac poetry style, perhaps mirroring the genre of oration
taught to her through the women in her African American tribal group. Her elegy on a popular
evangelical Methodist minister, George Whitefield, brought her instant success upon his death. She also
was well versed in Latin which allowed her to write in the epyllion (short epic) style with the publication
of "Niobe in Distress."
Phillis' popularity as a poet both in the United States and England ultimately brought her freedom from
slavery on October 18, 1773. She even appeared before General Washington in March, 1776 for her poetry
and was a strong supporter of independence during the Revolutionary War. She felt slavery to be the
issue which separated whites from true heroism: whites can not "hope to find/Deivine acceptance with th'
Almighty mind" when "they disgrace/And hold in bondage Afric's blameless race."
Phyllis is remembered for many first time accomplishments from a woman of her day:
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First African American to publish a book
An accomplished African American woman of letters
First African American woman to earn a living from her writing
First woman writer encouraged and financed by a group of women (Mrs. Wheatley, Mary
Wheatly, and Selina Hastings.)
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