Phillis Wheatley was one of America’s most profound writers who has contributed greatly to American literature and not only as a writer, but also as an African American woman. Phillis has influenced many African Americans by improving their knowledge of and exposure to their native heritage and native literature. As one of America’s most well known writers, Wheatley was said to be the mother of African American Literature. She is best known for her sympathetic portrayals of African American thought. Wheatley’s literary contributions are gigantic in nature and differentiate her apart from most writers of her era. Her writings have helped in the construction of the African American tradition and are favored by people of all ethnic backgrounds …show more content…
(Caretta, 23). The western coast of Africa is the birthplace of Phillis Wheatley. Her actual place of birth is unknown. However, it is hypothesized that she was born in or near Senegambia. Today, Senegambia is a divided land which is shared by the nations of Senegal and Gambia. It is guessed that Wheatley was born in Senegambia because that is where she and many others were introduced to the torturous life of slavery. Slave traders kidnapped and enslaved Phillis Wheatley at the extremely young age of seven. As young Phillis had to suffer the struggle to be in America alone. The young and not yet developed Wheatley presumably only survived the voyage because she was a part of a small pack. If she was a part of a cramped voyage, she probably would not have survived it (Franke, 223). Wheatley landed in Boston when she was just eight years old. This is where she was exposed to the harsh conditions of slavery. On the auction blocks at the slave market, a very well-off woman whose name was Susannah Wheatley bought Phillis to be servant and companion (Robinson, 98). Phillis Wheatley acquired her last name from Susannah Wheatley. It was common for slaves to acquire the last name of their masters or owners. In irony, Phillis Wheatley was named after the slave ship that brought her to America (Robinson, 101). Phillis Wheatley was gifted with the ability to both read and write poetry. Wheatley became fluent in both English and Latin, and she began writing a variety of poetry verses. In this era, it was rare for slaves to be literate at all, so for Phillis Wheatley to be as experienced as she was with language was extraordinary. Wheatley had the rare ability to not only understand the English language, but to be able to write in proper English as well. Phillis Wheatley is a prime example of the face that slaves were more than capable of comprehending the same things as other people could comprehend. Within the first 16 months of her arrival, Phillis Wheatley had some astounding accomplishments. She was able to understand Astronomy, Geography, and History, and she was also able to learn about British Literature. Wheatley was able to break the boundaries that had kept many other African Americans trapped. Her aspiration for learning increased and the excursion for knowledge became one with herself. By the time she was a teenager, Phillis Wheatley was reciting poetry for the most elite people in New England. She was doing so in houses where most African Americans were not even allowed to sit at the dinner table which shows what a step up she took in the world. Phillis Wheatley had a huge impact on American Literature.
Wheatley was able to express the feelings of anger and frustration that many African Americans had but were not able to express or get across. She also led the way for many of the young African American writers during her time and still to this day. In 1772, Wheatley published her first major piece of literature that was titled “On an Elegy to Evangelist George Whitefield”. When she realized the extent of Phillis’ talent, Susannah Wheatley made the publication of Phillis’ poems a reality in London (Caretta, Bio). When this occurred, many well-known people of Britain were able to verify that the author of these poems was indeed black. British individuals loved the publication, and therefore they criticized Americans for keeping its very talented author enslaved. During this time period, American citizens were, for the most part, only interested in benefitting the white population. They were shocked and unprepared for the criticism Britain showed for the enslavement of Phillis Wheatley. Boldly, in 1774 Wheatley published a piece of literature that disapproved of slavery. Her ability to publicly disapprove of slavery is example of how much of an influential person she really was. In 1775, Wheatley wrote "Reply" which was the first of many expressions of pride in the African American Heritage. Her popularity in Massachussetts began to expand and grow swiftly (Franke, …show more content…
224). Phillis Wheatley can be called the mother of African American literature and also the mother of women in literature. Wheatley had influence and experience from both religion and neo-classicism in her literature. Many of her writings have the common theme of freedom. In fact, many of her pieces supported American freedom from Britain. Her elegies are notorious for being an escape from slavery, and they also support the freedom of African Americans who were in slavery at that time. Rather than mourning death, Wheatley celebrates the freedom that the deceased have. Phillis Wheatley was cherished by many of America’s founding fathers, and today her book of poetry as viewed as being the very basis for what African American literature has become today. It’s a source of inspiration. She is so influential as to have a building named after her at the University of Massachussetts, Boston, and Phillis was also names to be one of the '100 Greatest African Americans', by scholar Molefi Kete Asante, in 2002 (Bio.com). Phillis Wheatley wrote her first poem at the very young age of 12. This was a story about two men who almost drowned at sea. This poem was published in the New Mercury. As other published poems followed, her fame increased. Wheatley’s poems reflected several impacts on her life.
For example, the famous poets she studied such as Alexander Pope and Thomas Gray. Women in an African-American tribal group who practiced oration influenced her to write in a style that is known as elegiac poetry. Wheatley’s education in Latin influenced her to write in a short epic style. Some of her most popular poems were “To the King’s Most Excellent Majesty” and “To the University of Cambridge in New England” (Seawall-Bellmont House). By December 1776 she was back in Boston, where she composed a patriotic tribute to General Charles Lee, but the poem remained unpublished until 1863. Wheatley published no more poems between December 1774 and January 1784, when she celebrated the formal end of the American Revolution with Liberty and Peace, A Poem (Emory
Elliot).
A little background on the author of “Liberty and Peace” Mrs. Phillis Wheatley she was brought to the America in the 1700’s from west Africa for slavery. However, she was only seven years old and end up in Boston instead of the south other slaves. It was there where her literary talents were discovered by her slave masters the Wheatley’s. She was taught to read and write like the other children within the Wheatley’s household. Her first published poem was at the age of thirteen told the story of rescue at sea and was published without any problems. However even though she was literate she was still far away from her homeland. She expressed her feels through her later poems, which many were not published because of her being an African
Wheatley was born in West Africa around 1750, and was captured when she was 7. John Wheatley purchased Phillis for his wife, Susanna; together they taught Phillis how to read and write, and as early as 12, Phillis was writing poetry and her first poem had been published. Wheatley’s poems implicitly advocated for racial equality, while condemning slavery. Her work received some negative feedback from political figureheads, such as Thomas Jefferson. White America classified a human as having the ability to read, write, and reason; therefore, leaving no room for the uneducated Africans, seeing Africans as nonhuman. Jefferson claimed Wheatley’s work was not literature because the moment he admitted Wheatley’s work was indeed literature, he would have had to admit she was a human being. The way Phillis Wheatley handled the adversity she faced is admirable. Wheatley definitely impacted American history, and “owes her place in history to advocates of inequality” (Young 1999
Readers unfamiliar with Phillis Wheatley may wonder of her background and who she was in particular to be able to gain rights to be mentioned in early American literature. Wheatley was born in 1753 and was captured by Africans, and sold to an American family known as the Wheatley’s. She quickly became a member of the Wheatley family, living in the home, and being tutored on reading and writing.
As a final point, Phillis Wheatley may have been bought a slave but she never lost faith and ended up being one of the best known poets in the early nineteenth century. This poem illustrates how she was living in darkness in Senegal, West Africa and because of slavery she was bought and brought to America. In this poem “On Being Brought from Africa to America,” Wheatley uses poetic devices such as similes, metaphors, hyperboles to illustrate color and darkness, multiple meanings of words, and the relationship between skin tone and salvation. This poem seems to be a narrative of her life and how slavery might have been the best thing that happened to her.
Throughout the poem, “To the University of Cambridge, in New England”, Phyllis Wheatley suggest that she accepted the colonial idea of slavery, by first describing her captivity, even though this poem has a subversive double meaning that has sent an anti-slavery message. Wheatley’s choice of words indicates that her directed audience was educated at a sophisticated level because of the language chosen. Her audience was assumingly also familiar with the bible because of the religious references used. The bible was used as a reference because of its accessibility. Wheatley uses religious references to subversively warn her readers about slavery and its repercussions and to challenge her reader’s morals.
To further analyze a more spoiled African American of the time, Phillis Wheatley did address the issues of her race as much as Sojourner Truth did. Wheatley mainly wrote “to Whites, for Whites and generally in the Euro-American tradition at that time” (Jamison 408). Her content focused on Christianity, morality, virtue, and other non-African-American-related topics. Her poetry has an underlying attitude of a white, not an African American. She shares the same views and attitude as a Caucasian, therefore she is part of African American literature because she was born into it, but she did not share the particular views and struggles of the African American population. She was heavily praised, because it was not expected from an African such as herself, although her upbringing should be considered. Some white men admired her work, because it was more than
Phillis Wheatley marks the beginning of the African-American literary tradition. Although she is the first African-American to become a published author, it is Wheatley’s work that proves her originality as it reflects a specific time in American history, her status as a slave, and a young woman of Christian faith (Harris). Each of these inherently contribute to her fresh African-American perspective. Wheatley is ingenious in the way she subtly ties in the roots of slavery and racism in a way that whites did not feel guarded. Not only does her work allow those with a conscious to at least somewhat consider the African-American point of view, but it invites criticism by those who care not to see African-Americans as intelligent equal beings that deserve respect. Some of the African-American community also criticizes that Wheatley did not speak enough about the injustices of slavery and prejudices of her time (Scheick). These critics are simply unable to see the Wheatley’s intent as her writing breeds originality and attention to a young and well-educated African-American woman whose words could stifle her freedoms if put any other way. In evaluating Wheatley’s On Being Brought from Africa to America, An Hymn to the Evening, and To the University of Cambridge, in New-England it is clear to see that she could only be imitative in style perhaps, but nuances of her heritage is what places her “writing at the heart of any definition of an African-American canon” (Harris).
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.
She makes you think about the wrong doings that were going on in this time period. It was very brave of her to talk about the things that she talked about especially while being a slave. During this time period she probably faced a lot of criticism of her works and many believed that someone was writing her poems for her because they were so good and it was uncommon for a black lady to write a poem as well as she did. As a young black lady who has to go through slavery and other adversities this was a very hard time period for them but Wheatley stood strong and followed in what she believed in. She fought for equality and freedom for African American men and women.
O?Neale, Sondra A. "Phillis Wheatley." Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 31: American Colonial Writers, 1735-1781. Ed. Emory Elliot. Princeton: Gale, 1984. 260-267.
Wheatley acted as a voice for her fellow slaves showing Americans that, contrary to popular belief, Africans weren’t happy with being taken from their homeland and enslaved. This created a foundation for awareness necessary to the eventual abolition of slavery. Roughly a century later Tocqueville’s stated that slavery needed to end through emancipation lest it happen through the violence of a slave revolt. It showed an awareness to the injustice of the slave condition and the rising popularity of the abolitionist movement. It documented the progress that Americans made toward the emancipation of slaves roughly a century later from Wheatley. Although the freeing of slaves would end in the violently bloodied Civil War, both Wheatley and Tocqueville show that the end of slavery was coming and another stride toward equality in America would be
The poetry of Phillis Wheatley is crafted in such a manner that she is able to create a specific aim for each poem, and achieve that aim by manipulating her position as the speaker. As a slave, she was cautious to cross any lines with her proclamations, but was able to get her point across by humbling her own position. In religious or elegiac matters, however, she seemed to consider herself to be an authority. Two of her poems, the panegyric “To MAECENAS” and the elegy “On the Death of a young Lady of Five Years of Age,” display Wheatley’s general consistency in form, but also her intelligence, versatility, and ability to adapt her position in order to achieve her goals.
Walker and Marshall write about an identity that they have found with African-American women of the past. They both refer to great writers such as Zora Neale Hurston or Phillis Wheatley. But more importantly, they connect themselves to their ancestors. The see that their writings can be identified with what the unknown African-American women of the past longed to say but they did not have the freedom to do so. They both admire many literary greats such as Charles Dickens, Virginia Woolf, and Jane Austen, but they appreciate these authors' works more than they can identify with them.
For centuries religion has played a huge role in the black community. From slavery to freedom, religion has help black folk deal with their anger, pain, oppression, sadness, fear, and dread. Recognizing the said importance of religion in the black community, Black poets and writers like Phillis Wheatley and Richard Wright, use religion as an important motif in their literature. Wheatley uses religion as a way to convince her mostly white audience of how religious conversion validates the humanity of herself and others. Wright on the other hand, uses religion in order to demonstrate how religion, as uplifting as it is can fail the black community. Thinking through, both Wheatley and Wright’s writings it becomes apparent that religion is so complex,
Wheatley was the first African American woman living in America to publish a book of poems at the age of 19, Wheatley was brought from Africa to