The power to do an outlandish action to change the future is truly remarkable. Eighteenth century poet Phillis Wheatley a former slave in the United States became the first African American to publish a book of poems. Fully aware that her life would change drastically she had no idea that her life would change for the better as her slave ship kissed the shores of Massachusetts. She had no idea that she would embark on the journey which would become the pathway for other African Americans to take upon themselves to understand literature. Phillis is amongst the few in history that created a tremendous change in how the eighteenth century population of white masters viewed the slaves they owned.
During the eighteenth century, owning a slave was seen as socially acceptable, needless to say treating a slave as though it was part of the family instead of property was not socially acceptable. A slave was there to work not to get a good education. This was not the case for Phillis Wheatley. Phillis at the age of eight was kidnapped from her home in Senegal and brought over to Boston on the slave ship, “The Phillis” in 1761. Hence why she was named after the ship. Many historians are still weary about her background. Although many claim that she was in Senegal its very uncertain. The slave ship did collect her from the banks of the Gambia river. Her portraits displays her facial features. These facial features all being slender, thin lips and a small nose. These facial features can be attributed to the Fulani who resided by the Gambia river at the time. Her age was determined to be eight by observing her front teeth. The Slave ship that brought her over collected many children that were frail from West Africa. Phillis being one of the...
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... Westminster Abbey, the British Museum, and the Royal Observatory. After a couple of months, Phillis received three hundred copies of her book which had a collection of twenty-eight poems, “ Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Morals.” The books were sold and distributed throughout the New England colonies.
While she was in England she was able to meet many of the literary figured that she admired. However upon hearing news that her master, Susannah, was ill she returned to the states. Many people began to criticize how the Wheatleys could keep someone as gifted as Phillis enslaved. The Wheatleys decided that it would be best to let her grow as a writer and person if they granted her freedom, and they did so. Susannah died March 3,1774. Phillis continued to live in the Wheatley mansion up until her marriage on April 1, 1778 to John Peters another free slave.
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
Equiano worked with British abolitionists to placate the conditions of poor black people by settling them in the new British West African colonies. Whereas, Wheatley’s works provided demonstrable evidence of reason, which was previously considered absent among African slaves. In her poem “On the Death of the Rev. George Whitefield”, Phillis Wheatley acclaims that the Africans “shall be sons, and kings, and priests to God.” The Reverend Alexander Crummell educated African Americans; later, he moved to Liberia as a missionary
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.
Phillis Wheatley letter to Reverend Samson Occom strongly expressed freedom and religious self-rule. Wheatly respected what Occom stated about the natural rights for negroes. She wanted the letter to change the major conflicts. It was a challenge between defending slavery and gaining it, that was the pin-point. On the other hand, a few years later Lamuel Haynes wrote the document, Liberty Further Extended. Haynes hoped that freedom for the Africans would take place. He wanted to expose conflicts to show just because of our color it should not decrease our right to freedom. In both of the documents I feel the authors voiced hope in things that could change, like colored people having freedom and religious self-rule. Wheatley and Haynes pointed
Mason, Jr., Julian D. The Poems of Phillis Wheatley. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1989.
Samuel Adams said to Phillis Wheatley, “You have a great gift . . . a very great gift, and it must be used.” Phillis Wheatley and Benjamin Franklin both had very great gifts, and their accomplishments using their unique gifts even greater. Phillis Wheatley’s gift was that of poetry, and her poems flowed and expressed how she felt about many different things. Her most famous poem is called “To the King’s Most Excellent Majesty.” It describes the colonies feelings about the Stamp Tax being repealed and the celebration of the colonists the day they heard the news. Benjamin Franklin’s gift was of perseverance, hard work, and imaginative ideas. This created two imaginary people, who most thought were real. Their names were Silence Dogood and Richard
Each of Phillis Wheatley’s poems is crafted with a specific purpose in mind. Although her use of heroic couplets stays mostly standard, she does leave room for adaptations that offer some insight into her ultimate purpose. While many of her poems humble her own position, often it is indeed for a specific cause, usually to convey a point she could not have otherwise communicated without fear of chastisement. On the other hand, speaking on religious matters she seems to feel bold enough to elevate her own position to that of an authority figure, giving guidance and hope to those in need of it.
Throughout the eighteenth century there were a lot of African American slaves and a problem with women’s rights. During that time there were people writing about literature and the society around them that related to slaves. There were a lot of people influenced on what was written during that time. Frances E. W. Harper was a American poet that was a free slave. Hse wrote about her views on the world. Analysis of Harpers life and poems will show how influenced she was through her writing.
The civil rights movement may have technically ended in the nineteen sixties, but America is still feeling the adverse effects of this dark time in history today. African Americans were the group of people most affected by the Civil Rights Act and continue to be today. Great pain and suffering, though, usually amounts to great literature. This period in American history was no exception. Langston Hughes was a prolific writer before, during, and after the Civil Rights Act and produced many classic poems for African American literature. Hughes uses theme, point of view, and historical context in his poems “I, Too” and “Theme for English B” to expand the views on African American culture to his audience members.
Lee, Desmond. “The Study of African American Slave Narratives “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” and “Narrative of Frederick Douglass”.” Studies of Early African americans. 17 (1999): 1-99. Web. EBSCO
Her style of writing is common for this time period however it was uncommon for a woman to be doing the writing. In one of her poems, "In Reference to Her Children, 23 June, 1659" she portrays her children as birds relating it back to nature. The nature aspect adds a tranquil feeling to her poems. She describes her children's lives as if they were birds and goes on to close the poem by saying "farewell my birds, farewell adieu"(Bradstreet 92). She uses nature in this poem to make her children seem simple and calm. She writes about religion is in almost every one of her works, but it is most clear in "A Dialogue Between Old England and New" where she lists out the difference between the two lands. She writes "Before I tell the effect I'll show my cause, which are my sins-- the breach of sacred laws"(Bradstreet 90). In this line she is referring to the old England and their secular ways, she feels that by taking place in the ways of the old England that she has committed many sins. She came to America to correct her ways and to spread her religion. This poem tells the good and the bad of both lands. She pays homage to the problems with England and tells of her hopes for the future of America. She was also a realist, she told life to way it was. In "Upon a Fit of Sickness , Anno 1632 Aetatis Suae" she is very placid about the fact that she
Gwendolyn Brooks, a world renowned black, female poet, made it her life’s purpose to create positive change in the lives of others. Brooks was born on “June 7, 1917, in Topeka, Kansas” (Contemporary Authors Online 1), then her family moved to Chicago during the Great Migration when she was six weeks old. Growing up on the south side, Brooks saw the daily struggles that blacks faced. There was a lot of racial tension building at this time, as many more blacks pushed back against oppression. Brooks was, “Deeply involved with black life, black pain and black spirits” (Lee 2). Throughout her lifetime, she was an activist, who worked to promote blacks to study literature by writing poetry. She published many books and wrote countless pieces of poetry,
In “On Being Brought From Africa To America” Phillis Wheatley speaks directly from her experience of coming to America, and how she became very religious on her arrival, so she uses her religious beliefs to explain how lucky she was to be in America and how she made a lot of achievements. Phillis Wheatley was a young black female poet, who started discovering her love for writing when she came to America, although it was illegal to educate black people she found a way to teach herself to read and write, even though a lot of people of her race were told that they weren’t good enough to deserve to be Christians and also to enjoy the advantage of being a citizen in America, Wheatley overcame these immense obstacles and she was so grateful for the chance to be a part of the Christian word and also to hear the word of Christianity, she was also very happy that she was brought to America where she has the opportunity to read and write. “Phillis” wasn’t her real name but her master named her that because the slave ship she boarded to come to America was named Phillis.
During times when racial tensions were high, many African American authors and poets began to rise and give consciousness to racial inequality and injustice. Famous poets like Maya Angelou and Langston Hughes began to give a voice to African Americans. For example, in Maya Angelou’s, “Still, I Rise,” she speaks of overcoming her oppressors as a woman and expresses a great amount of self-love and self-worth. In Hughes’s poem, “I, Too,” he states that he is an equal and emphasizes that being black does not degrade your beauty which allows the readers to feel empowered. Angelou and Hughes used similar means to raise awareness and fight for their rights through literature, even though, Maya Angelou’s poem, “Still I Rise,” also states the issue of sexism and Hughes’s poem, “I, Too,” just focuses more on equality.