'A Letter To Reverend Samson Occum'

The first known African American to have a poetry book published in America was the late Ms. Phillis Wheatley. Wheatley was born in 1753, in West Africa. In 1761, when Wheatley was roughly seven or eight years of age; she was purchased as a personal slave for Susannah Wheatley, the wife of John Wheatley. Phillis was taught to read and write from Susannah Wheatley’s daughter, Mary in between her household duties. At an early age, Wheatley was deeply involved in the Bible and multitude of other things to include Latin and Greek to English Literature. Wheatley’s love of poetry began when she was just twelve years old. At this age, she started writing poetry and Phillis’ first poem was published in 1770. (Carretta, 2011)

The illustration that Phillis Wheatley portrays in history is an African-American woman who wrote poetry. Her life goes more into depths that what is perceived, however. Phillis Wheatley uses her poetry as a unique way to get out the truth. Through poems such as On Being Brought From Africa to America and the poem about Lee, she made statements about was what going on at that time; a revolution. Phillis Wheatley was known as a revolutionary mother, for she gave hope to slaves, ease to whites, and was an influence to America. She was not known for conflict or trying to start an argument, but she more known for personalizing her thoughts onto a piece of paper, read by all of America. Her ideas were used as an influence during

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 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.

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

The second point of comparison is that both Wheatley and Dunbar wrote in black dialect. Wheatley often wrote her poems to celebrate the life and death of friends, prominent contemporaries and important events. She wrote in a style and reference that reflected her African heritage. Her style often focused on moral and religious subjects.

Within sixteen months of her arrival, she was reading astronomy, geography, history, and British literature. Wheatley was able to break a language barrier that had held so many others of her race back. Her desire for learning increased and the quest for knowledge became embedded in her spirit, mind, and soul. By her teenage years, Wheatley was a well known author, reciting poems for the New England elite in homes where blacks could not even sit at the table with whites.Phillis Wheatley made many contributions to American literature. Other than successfully representing and expressing the feelings of anger, frustration, and impatience of African American people abroad, she has paved the way for young aspiring African American writers.

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.

Anne Bradstreet, Daughter of the one governor and first published poet in America, was classified as a classic religious poet and also was also considered a very modern poet who really focused on her everyday life and all of her daily activates. Phillis Wheatley, enslaved at the age of 6, and became the first black women poet in America wote mostly classical poetry and had many Christian views. Her poetry used pyscholical meaning and also used poetic devices. Although both poets were to very respected poets of there time both are also very different compared to their work. Phillis Wheatley’s poetry was more in depth, thoughtful, and had somewhat more stylish than the work of Anne’s Bradstreet’s.

Phyllis Wheatley was born in Africa, but was brought to the Americas to be sold into slavery. John Wheatley who only intended her to be an attendant for his wife bought her. Although she was a slave, Phyllis Wheatley was accepted into the family as if she was their own child. She was given the opportunity to learn how to read and write, which was forbidden for most slaves. Soon after, Phyllis was able to understand the Bible, British literary tradition, and the basics of Latin and Greek. She began to write poetry and with the help of John Wheatley, her poems were published. They depicted her worldviews as well as passion for her culture. For anyone that didn’t know anything about Phyllis Wheatley was able to learn that she believed in equality for all and was prideful in the success of other African Americans.

Wheatley and Equiano wrote for the same reason: abolition. The two shared a similar story, both were taken from their homes in Africa and brought to America as slaves (Wheatley Norton Preface, Costonzo 526). Because of this experience, both were motivated to protest slavery in America, and they chose to do so through their published works. Equiano writes, “to lay at your feet the following genuine Narrative; the chief design of which is to excite your argument assemblies a sense of compassion for the miseries which the Slave-Trade has entailed on my unfortunate countrymen” (Equiano Preface). His chief purpose throughout the work is to argue why slavery should be abolished. He goes on to give a chilling account of the horrors he faced being brought to America (Equiano 542). The same is shown in Wheatley’s poems, “I, young in life, by seeming cruel fate/Was snatch’d from Afric’s fancy’d happy seat/…/such, such my case. And can I then but pray/Others may

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).