Phillis Wheatley, First Black American Poet

'Phillis Wheatley

Phillis Wheatley was the first African-American to publish a book.

this profile to Honor her life and her poetry

Phillis was '''''' purchased by the Wheatley family (John & Susanna Wheatley) of Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

(Wheatley- a Bostonian Merchant and Tailor)

The family noticed her "talents" and Phillis was taught to read and write. (tutored by daughter Mary Wheatley and son Nathaniel)

By age 12, Phillis could read Greek and Latin Literature and difficult passages from the Holy Bible.
One eventful day, Phillis began to write letters with a lump of coal substituted for a writing instrument. One of the household slaves went to tell on Phillis.

Instead of anger, Phillis was encouraged by a smile from Susannah Wheatley.

Her gift of poetic prose was encouraged by the Wheatly family.
Kidnapped from her Senegambian, Africa homeland, Phillis arrived in Boston on the Ship: ' Phillis 7/11/1761
1768- writes "To the Kings Most Excellent Majesty" (for King George III to repeal the Stamp Act)

1770- writes poetic tribute to Evangelist George Whitefield

1772-Phillis defends her good name in a Boston Court as the genuine author of her poetry (It was hard for White Americans to believe a Negro Slave could create poetry. After her hearing, then Lt. Governor Andrew Oliver finds her as the genuine author)

1773- visits London- some of her works were published there.

1775- publishes a poem "To His Excellency George Washington" (Thomas Paine publishes in the Pennsylvania Gazette)

1778-Emancipated from Slavery

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Poems by Phillis Wheatley

"An Address to the Athiest" "To the Kings Most Excellent Majesty" "Atheism" "An Elegaic Poem On the Death of that Celebrated Divine, and Eminent Servant of JESUS CHRIST, the Reverand and Learned Mr. George Whitefield" "A Poem On the Death of Charles Eliot" "Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral" "To His Honor the Lieutenant Governor on the death of his Lady" "An Elegy, To Miss Mary Moorhead, On the Death of her Father, The Reverand Mr. John Morehead" others.

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Spouse: John Peters

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Children: 3 known children. 2 lost at infancy Mary and Eliza and 1 additional son George [http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_were_Phyllis_Wheatley's_children's_names]

An Impressive Mind

John Wheatley was a prosperous merchant in Boston. Besides Sarah, he and his wife, Susanna, had lost two other children. Their oldest twins, Nathaniel and Mary, were eighteen at that time and lived at home.

It didn’t take long for the Wheatleys to be impressed by Phillis’s quick mind. Susanna was particularly interested in her education, although the task of instructing her was given to Mary. According to John Wheatley, within sixteen months, Phillis learned to understand English well enough to read even the toughest portions of the Bible. She later studied literature, history, and geography, and even learned some Latin. Her favorite poets were John Milton and Alexander Pope.

We don’t know how early Phillis began writing. Her first known letter was written in 1765, just four years after she arrived in America. It was addressed to Samuel Occom, a friend of the Wheatleys, who was involved in missionary work with his fellow Native Americans. Being a poet, he probably encouraged Phillis in her first attempts.

Phillis’s first published poem, “On Messrs. Hussey and Coffin,” appeared in 1767 in the Newport Mercury. It was inspired by an adventurous story Phillis heard from these two men, Hussey and Coffin. She gave God the credit for saving their lives during a storm at sea.

But the poem that gave her Transatlantic fame was one she wrote on the sudden death of the famous preacher George Whitefield. She addressed it to Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntington (who was a correspondent of Susanna Wheatley).

In this poem, 14-year-old Phillis affirmed that the gospel was for all human beings, Africans included.

Take Him, ye Africans, He longs for you,

Impartial Savior is His title due:

Washed in the fountain of redeeming blood,

You shall be sons, and kings, and priests to God.

First Published African-American Author

By 1772, Phillis had written enough poems to be able to collect them in a book. But finding a publisher was not an easy task. A publisher told her she had to find 300 people who would be willing to pre-order her book (by paying in advance). She also needed to have some recommendations from some reputable Bostonians.

The reason why such a recommendation was necessary was that many found it difficult to believe that Africans could write poetry – or make any relevant contribution to the fine arts or human knowledge. For example, in 1776, the philosopher David Hume wrote, “I am apt to suspect the negroes, and in general all the other species … to be naturally inferior to the whites.” His colleague Immanuel Kant added, “The Negroes of Africa have by nature no feeling that rises above the trifling.” They based these convictions on the fact that they had never heard of any African who could achieve “anything great in the art of science or any other praiseworthy quality.” If Phillis was, in fact, the author of these poems, she would have shattered this notion.

And she did. The letter of recommendation, entitled “Attestation,” was written by some of the brightest minds in the city, including Thomas Hutchinson, governor of Massachusetts, James Bowdoin, John Hancock, the Rev. Samuel Cotton, the Rev. Mather Byles, and the Rev. Samuel Cooper. Many of these men were Harvard graduates, and many were poets. All of them were convinced, by meeting Phillis and seeing her write in their presence, or by talking with people who did, that she was truly the author of her poems.

https://www.placefortruth.org/blog/phillis-wheatley-c-1753-1784-and...

• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6643184/phillis-wheatley
• https://timenote.info/lv/Phillis-Wheatley