Phillis Wheatley

In 1773 a book of poems was printed in London. The cover said the writer was Phillis Wheatley. It called her a "Negro Servant" in Boston. Before the poems came a note. Eighteen important men of Boston had signed it. They swore that she really wrote the poems. Wheatley was about twenty years old.

From Africa to Boston

Wheatley was born in West Africa around 1753. When she was about seven, she was kidnapped. That means she was taken away by force. A ship carried her across the ocean. In 1761 it reached Boston. John and Susanna Wheatley bought her. They named her Phillis after the ship.

Most enslaved people were not taught to read. But the Wheatley family taught her at home. Their daughter Mary was her first teacher. In sixteen months she could read the hardest parts of the Bible. Later she began to learn Latin.

A Famous Poem and a Book

As a teenager Wheatley wrote poems. In 1770 a famous preacher died. His name was George Whitefield. Wheatley wrote a poem about him. It was printed, and many people read it. Soon she had enough poems for a book.

In 1773 Wheatley sailed to London. Her book was printed there. It was the first book of poems by an African American woman. She came home to Boston. Soon after, the Wheatleys set her free.

A Letter to a General

In 1774 Wheatley wrote a letter about slavery. She said it made no sense for people to ask for freedom and keep slaves. Newspapers printed her letter.

In 1775 she sent a poem to George Washington. He led the American army. In 1776 he wrote back. He thanked her. He asked her to visit him. No one at the time wrote that they met. That story came much later.

The Last Years

In 1778 Wheatley married John Peters. He was a free Black man. They were very poor. She wrote more poems for a second book. It was never printed. Wheatley died in Boston on December 5, 1784. She was about 31.

In 1773 a book of poems went on sale in London. The title page named the writer as Phillis Wheatley, "Negro Servant to Mr. John Wheatley, of Boston." Before the first poem came a statement signed by eighteen important men of Boston. The governor was one of them. They swore that an enslaved young woman had really written the poems. Wheatley was about twenty years old.

From Africa to Boston

Wheatley was born around 1753 in West Africa. When she was about seven, she was kidnapped, taken away by force, and carried across the Atlantic Ocean on a slave ship. In 1761 the ship reached Boston. John and Susanna Wheatley bought her and named her Phillis after the ship that had brought her.

Most enslaved people in the colonies were never taught to read. The Wheatleys taught her at home, and their daughter Mary was her first teacher. John Wheatley later wrote that in sixteen months she could read the hardest parts of the Bible. She went on to read English poetry and began to learn Latin.

A Famous Poem and a Book

As a teenager Wheatley began writing poems. In 1770 she wrote an elegy, a poem honoring someone who has died, for George Whitefield, a famous preacher. It was printed as a pamphlet and sold across New England. By 1772 she had enough poems for a book. The publisher in London worried that readers would not believe an enslaved girl had written them. So eighteen Boston men signed a statement that said she had written the poems herself.

In 1773 Wheatley sailed to London. Her book, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, was printed there that year. It was the first book of poetry by an African American woman. Soon after she came home to Boston, the Wheatleys freed her.

A Letter and a Poem

In February 1774 Wheatley wrote a letter about slavery to Samson Occom, a Mohegan minister. She wrote that it made no sense for people to demand liberty while they kept others as slaves. Newspapers in New England printed the letter.

In October 1775 she sent a poem to George Washington, who commanded the Continental Army at Cambridge. He wrote back on February 28, 1776. He thanked her for the poem and invited her to visit him at his headquarters. No record from that time says the two met. The story of a meeting comes from an account written many years later.

The Last Years

In 1778 Wheatley married John Peters, a free Black man who kept a shop in Boston. The war years were hard, and the family lived in poverty, without enough money for food or rent. She tried to find buyers for a second book of poems, but it was never printed. Phillis Wheatley died in Boston on December 5, 1784, at about age 31.

In 1773 a book of poems went on sale in London. Its title page named the author as Phillis Wheatley, "Negro Servant to Mr. John Wheatley, of Boston." Before the first poem came a statement signed by eighteen of the most important men in Boston, including Governor Thomas Hutchinson and John Hancock. They swore that the poems had really been written by an enslaved young woman. Wheatley was about twenty years old.

From Africa to Boston

Wheatley was born around 1753 in West Africa, probably in the region of present-day Senegal and Gambia. When she was about seven, she was kidnapped and carried across the Atlantic on a slave ship. In 1761 the ship reached Boston, and John and Susanna Wheatley bought her. They named her Phillis after the ship that had brought her.

Most enslaved people in the colonies were never taught to read. The Wheatleys taught her at home, and their daughter Mary was her first teacher. John Wheatley later wrote that within sixteen months of her arrival she could read "the most difficult Parts of the Sacred Writings," the hardest passages of the Bible. She went on to study English poetry and began to learn Latin.

A Famous Poem and a Book

As a teenager Wheatley began writing poems of her own. In 1770 she wrote an elegy, a poem honoring someone who has died, for George Whitefield, a preacher famous on both sides of the Atlantic. The poem was printed as a pamphlet in Boston, sold widely in New England, and was reprinted in London. By 1772 she had enough poems for a book. The publisher in London had been warned that many readers would not believe an enslaved girl had written them. So he obtained an attestation, a signed statement that something is true, from eighteen Boston men. It said the poems were "written by Phillis, a young Negro Girl."

In 1773 Wheatley sailed to London with the Wheatleys' son Nathaniel. Her book, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, was published there that year. It was the first book of poetry by an African American woman. She returned to Boston before the book appeared, and soon afterward the Wheatleys freed her. On October 18, 1773, she wrote to a friend that her master "has at the desire of my friends in England given me my freedom."

A Letter and a Poem

Wheatley was now a free woman in a city moving toward war. In February 1774 she wrote a letter about slavery to Samson Occom, a Mohegan minister. She wrote of "the strange Absurdity" of people whose words and actions were "so diametrically, opposite," meaning colonists who demanded liberty while holding others in slavery. Newspapers across New England printed the letter.

In October 1775 she sent a poem to George Washington, who commanded the new Continental Army at Cambridge. Washington wrote back on February 28, 1776. He thanked her for the poem, praised her talent, and added, "If you should ever come to Cambridge, or near Head Quarters, I shall be happy to see a person so favourd by the Muses." No record from the time shows that the two met. The story of a meeting comes from an account written many years later.

The Last Years

In 1778 Wheatley married John Peters, a free Black man who kept a shop in Boston. The war years were hard, and the family lived in poverty. She asked for subscriptions, promises to buy a book before it is printed, for a second volume of poems, but too few people signed up and it was never published. Phillis Wheatley died in Boston on December 5, 1784. She was about thirty-one years old.

In 1773 a book of poems went on sale in London. Its title page named the author as Phillis Wheatley, "Negro Servant to Mr. John Wheatley, of Boston, in New-England," and it was dedicated to the Countess of Huntingdon, an English noblewoman who supported the book. Before the first poem came an attestation, a signed statement that something is true, from eighteen of the most prominent men in Massachusetts. Governor Thomas Hutchinson, Lieutenant Governor Andrew Oliver, John Hancock and seven ministers were among the signers, and so was John Wheatley, listed as "her Master." They assured "the World" that the poems had been written by "Phillis, a young Negro Girl." Wheatley was about twenty years old.

From Africa to Boston

Wheatley was born around 1753 in West Africa, probably in the region of present-day Senegal and Gambia. In 1761, "between seven and eight Years of Age," as John Wheatley later put it, she was carried to Boston on a slave ship. John and Susanna Wheatley bought her and named her Phillis after the ship that had brought her. Most enslaved people in the colonies were never taught to read. The Wheatleys taught her at home, and their daughter Mary was her first teacher. In a letter of November 14, 1772, printed in the book, John Wheatley wrote that "without any Assistance from School Education," she had learned English within sixteen months of her arrival well enough to read "the most difficult Parts of the Sacred Writings." Writing she took up on her own. By 1772 she had "a great Inclination to learn the Latin Tongue" and had "made some Progress in it."

A Famous Poem and a Book

As a teenager Wheatley began writing poems of her own. In 1770 she wrote an elegy, a poem honoring someone who has died, for George Whitefield, a preacher famous on both sides of the Atlantic. It was printed as a pamphlet in Boston in October 1770, sold widely in New England, and was reprinted in London. By 1772 she had enough poems for a book. The publisher in London had been told that "Numbers would be ready to suspect they were not really the Writings of Phillis," and that is why he obtained the attestation. The attestation described her as a girl "brought an uncultivated Barbarian from Africa" and "under the Disadvantage of serving as a Slave," and it reported that she had "been examined by some of the best Judges, and is thought qualified to write them."

In 1773 Wheatley sailed to London with the Wheatleys' son Nathaniel. There she met prominent people, among them Benjamin Franklin, who was in London as an agent for the colonies. Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral was published that year, the first book of poetry by an African American woman. She returned to Boston before the book appeared, and soon afterward the Wheatleys freed her. On October 18, 1773, she wrote to David Wooster of Connecticut that her master "has at the desire of my friends in England given me my freedom." The exact date of her freedom is not recorded.

Writing About Slavery

The poems in her book rarely speak of slavery directly. The best known that does, "On being brought from Africa to America," is eight lines long. It ends: "Remember, Christians, Negros, black as Cain, / May be refin'd, and join th' angelic train." The lines reply to readers who "view our sable race with scornful eye." She was more direct in a letter of February 11, 1774, to Samson Occom, a Mohegan minister. She wrote of "the strange Absurdity" of people whose "Words and Actions are so diametrically, opposite," meaning colonists who demanded liberty while holding others in slavery. The Connecticut Journal printed the letter on its front page on April 1, 1774, and other New England newspapers reprinted it.

A Poem for the General

On October 26, 1775, Wheatley sent a poem and a letter to George Washington, who commanded the new Continental Army at Cambridge. The letter reached him in mid-December. Washington wrote back on February 28, 1776, apologized for the delay, and said that he had not published the poem himself because people might think it vanity. He added, "If you should ever come to Cambridge, or near Head Quarters, I shall be happy to see a person so favourd by the Muses." He sent the poem to his former secretary Joseph Reed, and it appeared in print that spring. No record from 1776 shows that Washington and Wheatley met. The story of a meeting rests on an account written in the nineteenth century.

The Last Years

In 1778 Wheatley married John Peters, a free Black man who kept a shop in Boston. The war years were hard, and Peters spent time in jail for debt. The family lived in poverty. Wheatley asked for subscriptions, promises to buy a book before it is printed, for a second volume of poems, but too few people signed up and it was never published. Some of its poems later appeared in newspapers, and many were lost. Phillis Wheatley died in Boston on December 5, 1784, at about thirty-one years old.