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Phillis Wheatley is estimated to have been born in 1753 in The Republic of Gambia, which is the smallest country within the mainland of Africa and is now considered to be Senegal. She was about 7 years-old when she taken and loaded onto a slave ship as  one of 95 slaves purchased by a Massachusetts slave trader in exchange for liquor and material goods in 1760. After enduring the two-months long voyage on the slave ship “Phillis”, she arrived in Boston in July 1761, where she was purchased by John Wheatley. Phillis was taught to speak English by the Wheatley children, and she also learned to read and write, all skills that most slaves were forbidden to acquire. Phillis went on to also learn Latin and Greek and as Phillis became more accomplished, she began to study poetry from renowned poets, eventually composing her own poetry. As a poet, her slave owners frequently called on Phillis to entertain their guests.

In 1767 Phillis’ poem “Oh Messrs. Hussey and Coffin” was published however Phillis did not become well-known until her poem “An Elegiac Poem, On the Death of That Celebrated Divine, and Eminent Servant of Jesus Christ, The Late Reverend, and Pious George Whitefield” was published in 1767. In 1773 Phillis was taken to United Kingdom and became the first African American woman to publish a book of poems. The book was entitled “Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral”. Phillis achieved literary and social acceptance in England which had a critical impact on her being freed after return to America later that year. In 1778 Phillis married a free Negro however they did not stay together. While Phillis Wheatley typically steered clear of the subject of slavery and the maltreatment of Black people by White Americans in her poems, lines from her poem “On Being Brought from Africa to America” serve as admonishment to white readers of their accountability in the afterlife. This poem is Phillis’ most well-known piece. Included in the list of Phillis Wheatley’s notable compositions is her poem “To the University of Cambridge, in New England”, written in 1767; To the King’s Most Excellent Majesty” written in 1768 as well as “On the Death of Rev. Dr. Sewall”, composed in 1769. Phillis Wheatley died free on December 5, 1784 in Boston, Massachusetts.

References

https://academic-eb-com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/levels/collegiate/article/Phillis-Wheatley/76745

Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopedia (2020, December 1). Phillis Wheatley. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Phillis-Wheatley

Phillis Wheatley’s Journey (N.D.) Boston African American National Historic Site Retrieved April 15, 2021, from Phillis Wheatley's Journey (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)