Phillis Wheatley Analysis

Phillis Wheatley is a gem of her time; the first African-American woman to have her poetry published. Though purchased as a slave, her life was far from most African-Americans during the 17th century. She was educated and became deeply rooted in her faith: Christianity. From an outsider, her life may be viewed as an adopted child rather than a slave to the Wheatley family. However, she did not forget where she came from or those less fortunate than herself. Wheatley used the education she was afforded and her new-found spirituality to fight against slavery through the use of words (751). One of the greatest examples of this is her poem “To the University of Cambridge, in New England” addressed to perhaps the well-educated group of

The newest question that aroused in the Wheatley family, was that since now Phillis could speak fluent English, could she explain her past and development. "All she could remember of her past was an image of her mother pouring water on the land before the rising sun, honoring the new ay by the rite#".(pg 95 Women in the American Revolution) This shows that Phillis could have learned the Arabic language. She was often told that Phillis should consider herself lucky because she brought into a land of Christianity. However, her Bible tells her that "the black children of Cain are marked for perdition#".( pg 96 Women in the American Revolution) Phillis was noted for her prayer, in which she wrote in her Bible for God to save her, "Oh my Gracious Preserver! ..Tho conceived in Sin & brot forth in iniquity yet thy infinite wisdom can bring a clean thing out of an unclean, a cessel of Honor filled for Thy glory---grant me to live a life of gratitude to Thee for the innumerable benefits---O Lord my God! Instruct my ignorance and enlighten my darkness." (pg 96 Women in the American

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.

Harriet Beecher Stowe, Phillis Wheatley, and Sojourner Truth were without a doubt, 3 very strong, powerful, and a unique group of intellectual women. Each woman ultimately had an undeniable force with being able to provide readers fascinating pieces of literature to inform their stories. They each lived in an era in history where equality was nonexistent. They were able to speak towards their own personal beliefs within their pieces of literature. Each displayed to their readers their different views, and even their different beliefs and personal thoughts towards slavery. Although they all spoke towards the same topic of slavery, they each shared very contrasting opinions towards the topic at hand.

Phillis Wheatley’s first sentence, in a Letter to Samson Occom, was very long. There was at least five points she made in this sentence alone. This one sentence took up three-fourths of this letter. Phillis Wheatley’s main points are within this sentence. She is recognizing that Samson Occom observed the ‘negros’ natural rights. She is arguing that these rights are bringing hope to the African people and making like for them better, and less chaotic. Lastly, the final point she makes in the first sentence is that God will deliver them as he did the Israelites from Egyptian slavery.

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

In 1771, Wheatley composed her first major work, "On an elegy to evangelist George Whitefield." After realizing Wheatley’s potential for excellence, Susannah Wheatley arranged a London publication of Wheatley’s poems. As a result of this, prominent Bostonians verified the book’s author as being Black. Britons praised the book, but criticized Americans for keeping its author enslaved. At this time, Americans were only interested in benefiting White America, and were not prepared for the fact that Britons would criticize their slave policy. In 1774, she wrote a letter repudiating slavery, which was reprinted and

Phillis Wheatley overcame extreme obstacles, such as racism and sexism, to become one of the most acclaimed poets in the 18th Century. Her works are characterized by religious and moral backgrounds, which are due to the extensive education of religion she received. In this sense, her poems also fit into American Poetry. However, she differs in the way that she is a black woman whose writings tackle greater subjects while incorporating her moral standpoint. By developing her writing, she began speaking out against injustices that she faced and, consequently, gave way to authors such as Gwendolyn Brooks and Countee Cullen.

In a time when Africans were stolen from their native lands and brought through the middle passage to a land that claimed was a free country, a small African girl, who would later be known as Phillis Wheatley, was sold in Boston in 1761. In the speech, “The Miracle of Black Poetry in America”, written by June Jordan, a well respected black poet, professor and activist, wrote the speech in 1986, 200 years after Phillis walked the earth, to honor the legacy of the first black female poet for the people of the United States. Jordan, passionately alludes to the example of Phillis Wheatley’s life, to show the strength and perseverance of African-American people throughout difficult history and how they have overcome the impossible.

Sojourner Truth played a vital role in inspiring people to stand up against slavery and injustice. She stood up for herself and every African-American. She had the courage to stand up and leave her slave owner. She stood up for herself and her son in court when he was sold illegally to a slave owner in a different state. She had the moxy to become a public figure and talk about injustice against women and African-American slaves. In the late 1700’s and early 1800’s, no one had ever heard of a woman slave taking a stand to control her and her family’s life. Sojourner Truth was before her time.

First, Garner made it to free territory with her whole family, despite the challenges she may have faced along the way. The trip must have been a difficult one, with her husband and four children, they could have easily been caught (36). This must have been exceptionally difficult because she and her family had attempted to escape in 1856, which was after the Fugitive Slave Act had been passed, so it was easier for her to be caught and returned back South. Secondly, she killed her daughter so she wouldn’t grow up to be a slave. When she traveled to free territory, federal marshals broke into the cabin she was in and Garner had murdered her two-year-old daughter and attempted to kill her other children as well (Black). She had done this because she hated the thought of going back to her plantation and having her children become slaves. Lastly, because she murdered her child and attempted escape, Garner had one of the longest fugitive slave trials in history. This case lasted for two weeks and was all over newspapers in town (Cincy). It caused lots of controversy, because Garner’s lawyer, John Jolliffe, argued that she should be charged with a murder trial since she had committed the crime on free territory; this way, she would have a chance at being freed from slavery because she would be considered as a free person and her children would be considered free as well. But, the court

 African Americans had a rough life during the revolution. Mary Postill is a prime example of the hardships that an African American slave had to go through. After she fled to Charleston, the military gave her a certificate of freedom. At the time, the military was controlled by the British. A loyalist who claimed freed blacks wrongly then took control of Mary and her family and made them his slaves so they could no longer be free. Gray brought Mary to court when she attempted to flee. She swore that she was free, but Gray, being that he was an esteemed white man, won the case. He then sold Mary and her family down the river for a hundred bushels of potatoes. This was her punishment for trying to escape him. The owners of slaves usually made their workers do the most tedious and tiresome work such as helping with the rice production. They were not well fed and they were not given enough supplies to make their own clothing. The slaves were also physically and mentally abused. Carol Berkin states in chapter 8 of

The eyes of potential soul arose into the world in Senegambia, and half way around the world in Easton arisen a soul to be etched into the world forever. A girl , no , a woman I should say given the strength possessed in the soul of her body and mind and certainly a man , a man who will grow to learn fathoms of knowledge breaking the impenetrable minds of those who heard silence. These two were of separate shades although fused from one deep pigment. Two of the most renowned black writers that were for the abolitionist movement in America were Frederick Douglass and Phillis Wheatley. During the times of slavery, finding a literate black slave who could read the very words of a paper who could then think for themselves and

Phillis Wheatley was a young African American girl, brought to America at the age of seven to be a slave. In her time maturing in the Wheatley household, young Phillis grew rapidly intellectually and spiritually. Her faith in God and His divine nature is what inspired Wheatley to write- a prominent subject in her poem “On Being Brought from Africa to America.” Another example of God being the backbone of her literary career is in her letter “To the University of Cambridge in New England.” Though Wheatley was a slave, she is known as one of the most prominent poets in the pre-nineteenth century America. Mr. Edgar Alan Poe,

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).