Phillis Wheatley Biography

Alice Malsenior Walker, an African American born into poverty, came into this world on February 9, 1944 in Eatonon, Georgia. She was the youngest child of eight children born to Willie Lee and Minnie Tallulah Walkers. Both of her parents were sharecroppers as well as expert story tellers. Things were not easy for the Walkers and Alice often witnessed her mother’s frustration of having the burden to take care of eight children with little means. Even though children of share croppers were usually made to work the fields, Alice’s mother made sure that her kids received an education. Alice was brilliant at writing poetry.

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.

Phillis Wheatley was the the first African American writer to have her books published in the United States. Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral written by Wheatley was viewed as a model for the importance of education with religious aspects, as it was often seen throughout her poetry. Formulated mainly of neoclassical elegiac poetry, Poems on Various Subjects triggered several discussions concerning the length to which Wheatley can be deemed a minor poet or whether she wrote to express politics and moral trouble.

     When her father passed away she had nobody to tell her what to do and how to act. This was very devastating and she had a hard time dealing with change. So much so that she wouldn't let the police take the body of her father out of the house for three days after his death. The only thing that was constant in her house was the slave

Racism had tainted her life from the very beginning. During her childhood she attended a one-room school for blacks only. She was only allowed to attend school for a short time due to the ailing health of

Ms. Wheatley was born in Senegal or Gambia in 1753 and brought to America when she was around 7 years old, on the slave ship “The Phillis”. She was bought by a tailor named John Wheatley to be a servant for his wife Susannah. John assigned her the name Phillis because of the ship that brought her to America and as was customary, Phillis took the last name of John and Susannah. Susannah soon realized that Phillis was a very gifted child and began to encourage Phillis to learn with her own children. Phillis learned to read and write English in a very short amount of time and the Wheatley’s 18-year-old daughter began to tutor her in numerous

Jefferson was firm in his belief that blacks were inferior to whites. Nevertheless he admits some educational accomplishments when he singles out Phillis Wheatley. However, he casts doubt on her accomplishments. He used whatever weaknesses he found in her work to support the notion that blacks could not produce poetry.

She wrote many books on topics of slavery, religion, and family. One of these books was

Phillis Wheatley is considered the first African American and the third women to write and publish a book of poetry in the colonies. She was born in Africa, kidnapped at about the age of eight and brought to Boston, Massachusetts. John Wheatley purchased her to be the servant for his wife, who took her under her wing. She received lessons in English, Latin, and Greek. Wheatley’s treatment was abnormal due to the fact that during this period, African Americans were often discouraged and intimidated against learning how to read and write.

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).

Phillis Wheatley’s background was a major part in her success as a

Harriet Jacob was the first African American women to have authored a slave narrative in the United States and was instinctive into slavery in Edenton, North Carolina. Living a good life with her skilled carpentered father and her mother, Jacob didn’t much of being a slave. However, when her mother had passed away, Jacob and her father were reassigned to a different slave owner were her life as a women slave began. Because of this change, she fled to New York where she started working in the Anti-Slavery movement. During this period, she focused more on her family then she did the issue of slavery. Family is an emotional anchor in the Incident in the Life of a Slave Girl because Linda was devoted to her children. She uses symbolism, imagery, and allegory because she wants to demonstrate what families should be like.

Chained to the inhumane bonds of slavery, Phillis Wheatley broke through what seemed impossible to achieve freedom as the mother of African American literature and poetry. Paving the way to a future of hope and freedom, Wheatley gave blacks a voice by inspiring the minorities of the time to rejoice and be proud of their god given skin. Wheatley's poetry attracted considerable attention, and her fame spread from New England to Europe as this articulate poetry was written by a black woman. At a difficult time where slaves’ rights and overall humanity were heavily questioned and undermined, poet Phillis Wheatley’s remarkable breakthrough as the first black publisher in America has allowed her to shed awareness on the importance of social justice.

Her dad had to work so he could buy his children so they would not be slaves anymore(pg.1 of the book). Her and her family lived in a comfortable home(pg.1). And she also had a little brother named William who was 2 years younger than her(pg.1 of the book).

An important point inside Phillis Wheatley’s story, Thoughts on the works of Providence, is that God is visible in a number of things in nature. But, however, we must open our eyes and soul to actually see it. She refers to the “Sun” a lot in the poem, and it subjects how big God is and his abilities, not just representation. Her thoughts are that the sun is able to provide for the things on earth, such as humans, plants, and a number of things. For instance, Wheatley’s states that,” So far beneath—from Him the extended earth, vigor derives, and every flowery births. It’s a metaphoric statement that implies God is represented by the sun therefore giving life to everything on planet earth and more. Her use of symbolism also gives a great representation