Middle Passage Slavery

A young African boy, impacted by the society in mid-nineteenth century, wrote about him growing up with negative viewpoints all around and not being able to learn like other kids did . This boy was Frederick Douglass and this autobiography was “My Bondage and My Freedom”. In “My Bondage and My Freedom”, Frederick Douglass illustrates the impact of a like-minded society, the impact knowledge had on a slave, and slaves having knowledge allowed for them to have free thought but still not being free as a person.

Instead of listening to the Secret Service she asked one of the head Pilots to fly her. She was optimistic when they landed. She asked why are they not flying into war, they're really good. Later she donated $175,000 to build a new Runway. One of her most important contributions to the Tuskegee airmen and civil rights was to talk to FDR the president and ask for them to join the war effort. she said all people should be equal and they should all have the opportunity to fight for their

Harriet Jacob and Phillis Wheatley, Incident in the Life of a Slave Girl and On Being Brought from Africa to America both presents the existential conditions of being a black woman in a male dominated society. Despite their years span differences, both author present different, yet similar views of enslavement in America where black women struggle to reclaim their humanity and seek freedom within their society. For both Harriet and Phillis, both women used literacy as their voice to raise concern for the plight of enslaved African-Americans, more specifically the women.

Born in Senegal around 1753, Phillis Wheatley became an important American poetic figure. At the age of 8, she was kidnapped and brought to Boston on a slave ship and upon her arrival to Boston, she was quickly sold to John Wheatley (Bio). Under her new family, Phillis adopted the master’s last name, taken under the wife’s wing, and showed her deep intelligence. Even though suffering from poor health, Phillis’s intelligence did not go unnoticed; she received lessons in theology, English, Latin and Greek. Being a slave did not stop Phillis from learning and experiencing her life, she participated in the master’s family events and eventually became a family member. The irony in this situation is

She wrote many letters to different people such as ministers. She wrote about freedom and liberty. They needed to know what they were doing wrong and it might have changed their perspective on slavery. And made them realize African Americans had the same qualities they did. This was also the first book an African American woman wrote in America. Once she published her book, she received a lot of recognition. John Hancock was one of the many who saw her book and thought it was beautiful. Her owner decided she deserved to be free so she was freed that year from slavery.

Slavery was an embarrassing time in America’s history. In 2016, slavery has become a distant memory. It’s easy for us to admit that slavery is wrong but, in Frederick Douglass’s time no one thought that it was. Frederick Douglass went on to write books and give speeches in hope that one day all slaves would be free. In the book called “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass”, he attempts to shine light on the American Slave system in the 1800’s.

against lynching and created an impact on slaves. People who did not agree with her were

Slavery was brought to America in the 1600’s taking millions of Africans from West Africa. But in 1804 the North voted to abolish slavery but the South refused making states escape the union.Slavery in the South had an effect on the economy, but also on the slaves.Frederick Douglass, who was once a slave with his family in Maryland suffered greatly, but still pushed on and finally escaped and became a national leader of the abolition in the south movement.He made a narrative about his life as a slave and stated that the purpose of the narrative is to “throw light” on the American slave system.The goal of this paper is to discuss three aspects his narrative discusses that he “throws light” on, his position against the feelings of defenders of

of her life at the Civil war, because she loved helping people and that what she decided to do

Phillis Wheatley drew attention in the 18thcentury for being a black slave, and a child prodigy who was able to write poems and songs. She was born in Gambia, Africa, and brought to Boston as a slave when she was a child, and became slave and companion to John Wheatley’s wife. As she grew older, John Wheatley’s wife viewed her as a feeble and brilliant girl who deserves to be educated and felt great affection toward her. Therefore, Susanna Wheatley’s daughters taught Phillis how to read and write, so she delivered her honest opinions through her writings (Baym and Levine 763). Then she became the first African American writer to publish a book of poetry while other slaves were forbidden to learn how to read and write. Her ability to write and read gave her freedom of expression and enabled her to become a free woman. Her literacy influenced her surroundings in numerous ways. She was acknowledged by many people for her great poetical talents (“Phillis Wheatley, the First” para 3). In the poem “On Being Brought from Africa to America,” Phillis Wheatley appeals to ethos and pathos, uses suitable diction and a metaphor to demonstrate that the discrimination of Africans is barbarous, and encourages people to not judge by physical characteristics, but consider innate qualities.

paved the way for religious freedom. She was a great leader in the cause for

Like it was previously stated, the author is primarily targeting black women to encourage them to appreciate what their female ancestors suffered through to keep their heritage and spirit alive. However, Walker may have also had the intent to inform other audiences what it was like to be an African American woman in history. To accomplish her aims, she used certain types of style and tone that were very effective. Her stylistic approach was the use of many different examples. She tells the heartbreaking tale of little Phillis Wheatley, a "sickly, frail black girl" who was taken from her home as a small child to live and die as a slave in America. She includes a short passage written by poet Jean

Phillis Wheatley was sold into slavery when she was only 7 years old and sent to North America. She was purchased by a family in Boston—they then taught her how to read and write (Wikipedia, 2016). When she learned how to read, her writing thrived. The Wheatley’s saw that, and continued to encourage to continue on with learning and writing the poems. The people of Boston did not want to support an African-American poet, so Phillis sent her writings to a publisher in London (Poetry Foundation, 2016).

Prior to the publication of any slave narrative, African Americans had been represented by early historians’ interpretations of their race, culture, and situation along with contemporary authors’ fictionalized depictions. Their persona was often “characterized as infantile, incompetent, and...incapable of achievement” (Hunter-Willis 11) while the actions of slaveholders were justified with the arguments that slavery would maintain a cheap labor force and a guarantee that their suffering did not differ to the toils of the rest of the “struggling world” (Hunter-Willis 12). The emergence of the slave narratives created a new voice that discredited all former allegations of inferiority and produced a new perception of resilience and ingenuity.

Phillis Wheatley is a Gambian born African American poet. She was bought off of the slave trade by the Wheatley family from Boston. Her love of writing was influenced by the reassurance of the Wheatley family who taught her how to read and write. The family encouraged her poetry and helped develop her literature skills. Phillis is known for becoming the first published African American poet. Many see her as the first writer to develop a genre of African American literature. Through an analysis of Wheatley’s work we can see how her influential work tends to carry themes from the point of view of American colonists. Her work also contains a general critique of slavery and descriptions of her attitudes towards the circumstances forced upon the enslaved.