Revolutionary, Social – Phyllis Wheatley
Phyllis Wheatley was a female slave poet. Her first book, Poems on Various Subjects,
was published in 1773. It was one of the earliest books of poetry published by an AfricanAmerican, and the first published by an African-American female slave. Her poems were
mostly about her religion and how it influenced her life.
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A Voice of Her Own
Phillis Wheatley (ca. 1753-1784)
Poems on Various Subjects,
Religious and Moral. . .
Portrait facing Title Page - Title Page
Page 2
London, 1773
Rare Book & Special Collections
The gifted young black poet Phillis
Wheatley (ca. 1753-1784) was celebrated as
"the extraordinary poetical genius" of
colonial New England even before this
compilation of her poems was published in
September 1773. Not yet eight years old
when she was brought to America from
Africa in 1761, Wheatley was educated by
her mistress, and her first poem was
published in a Rhode Island newspaper when
she was only fourteen. Her pious elegies for
prominent English and colonial leaders
became popular and were often reprinted in
colonial newspapers or as broadsides.
Wheatley's 1773 visit to London, ostensibly
to improve her frail condition, was cut short
by her mistress' failing health. Although she
was entertained by William Legge, Earl of
Dartmouth, the abolitionist Grenville Sharpe,
John Thornton, and Benjamin Franklin,
Wheatley did not meet her patron, Selina
Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon, to whom
she dedicated her Poems on Various
Subjects, Religious and Moral.
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African American Odyssey
Poems on various subjects, religious and moral. -- Go to the: Exhibit || Bibliographic Information
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Phyllis Wheatley was purchased by John Wheatley, a slave-owner from Boston. John
Wheatley taught her how to read and write. Because many people did not think it was
possible for an African-American woman to be able to write poetry as good as Phyllis did,
some accused her of not being the author of her book. However she did indeed write all of
the poems in it, and John Wheatley, her master, supported her claims as author, as is seen
here.
The Library of Congress
African American Odyssey
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Despite being a slave, many of Phyllis’ poems deal with issues that were not related to her
personal condition. Her poems were very similar, in subject and style, to those of other
poets of that time. In this poem, for example, she talks about King George III of Britain.
Although Phyllis Wheatley’s poetry did not discuss much of her life as a slave, she did
inspire other African-Americans to write. One such former slave was Olaudah Equiano, who
wrote down his life-story in the form a narrative. He became an important early leader in the
abolition movement against slavery, and his autobiography became one the movement’s
most important texts.
An African Captive Tells His Own Story
This autobiography is one of the few personal accounts by an African of his experiences as a victim of the
slave trade and as a slave. This powerful personal narrative is exceptional in the details it provides. It was first
published in 1789 and sold widely in the British Isles. Equiano recounts his childhood in Africa until his
capture and enslavement, his subsequent sale to European traders, the horrors of the middle passage, his
bondage in the United States, and his life on board British merchant vessels from 1758 to 1788--first as a
slave and later for hire. Eventually, he became the most prominent black abolitionist in Britain.
Olaudah Equiano.
The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African.
Norwich: The Author, 1794.
Rare Book and Special Collections Division.
Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-54026 (2-1)
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