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Phillis Wheatley
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Phillis Wheatley was the author of the first book of poetry by an African American, published in London in 1773. Prior to the book's debut, her first published poem, "On Messrs Hussey and Coffin," appeared in 1767 in the Newport Mercury. In 1770, her elegy on the death of George Whitefield, a celebrated evangelical Methodist minister who had traveled through theAmerican colonies, drew international attentionand the particular interest of Selina Hastings, the Countess of Huntingdon. Whitefieldhad been the Countess's personal chaplain. Wheatleypublished numerous individual poems in addition to her book, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, but a proposed second volume of poetry never appeared, and the manuscript was lost after her death in 1784.
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Phillis Wheatley was an African slave in Boston, Massachusetts when she became the first published black poet in America in 1767. Wheatley came to the Boston slave market in 1761 (some have guessed from Senegal) and was purchased by John Wheatley for his wife, Susannah. Named Phillis and given her master's surname, it was estimated she was between 7 and 8 years old. She quickly mastered English and the Wheatleys saw to it that she learned literature, mythology, Latin and Greek. By the time she was 13 she was writing her own poems, influenced especially by the poetry of Alexander Pope and John Milton. She published locally in 1767 and was considered a prodigy among the Boston literati, thanks to her "lively" personality as well as her sophisticated verse.
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Gates, who says he'd like to see the 18th-century poet Phillis Wheatley honored, has a unique distinction among committee members: He's been on the receiving end of the selection process. Ghana put him on a stamp in 1998.
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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. 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.
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When Phillis Wheatley wrote the above letter to Samson Occom, in February 1774, she was barely twenty years old. These blisteringly direct and condemning words are uncharacteristic of the "face" that the young poet had on most occasions shown to her world. Wheatley had been in the strange new world for most of her life and had seen and suffered much in her short time. Stolen from her African homeland, Wheatley was sold on the slave block in Boston. Educated in the pious home of John and Susanna Wheatley, she accepted the Christian faith offered her in the Old South Church. She had won national and international acclaim as a gifted writer of poetry, and she had made the voyage across the Atlantic three times.
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Phillis Wheatley's rise from slavery to recognition as the foremost African American poet in the American colonies is featured in this volume of the Young Patriots series. Focusing on Phillis's early years, this profile reveals her illiterate beginnings in the Wheatley family and the turbulent pre–Revolutionary War climate in which she became an avid student and young poet. Young readers will rejoice as she protects her friend Nat from British soldiers after the Boston Tea Party and delight when one of her poems results in a life-changing meeting with George Washington. Vivid illustrations accent this window into an exciting era in which Phillis found strength in the face of adversity and became a celebrated poet. Special features include a summary of Phillis's adult accomplishments, fun facts detailing little-known tidbits of information about her, and a time line of her life.
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Phillis Wheatley