Phillis Wheatley was more than just an African-American slave who also had a gift for poetry. She was a symbol of the intelligence and dignity of blacks when it was popularly thought that they could never be the intellectual equal of whites.
She was likely born in Senegal about 1753. At the age of eight, her life was forever changed when she was kidnapped from her family by slave-traders and brought to Boston. There a man named John Wheatley purchased her as a personal servant for his wife Susanna.
At one time, slaves in America had been able to be taught to read and write by their masters. However, several slave insurrections earlier in the century had terrified whites, who blamed the slaves’ “bad behavior” on education. Thus there were laws and rules prohibiting the education of a slave.
The Wheatleys, however, ignored these fears. Young Phillis had shown herself to be quite intelligent, and so the family gave her instruction in such subjects as history, literature, and Greek. She became a part of the Wheatley family, which was unusual at that time.
At age 12, Phillis published her first poem in a newspaper in Newport, Rhode Island. It was a story masterfully told, about two men who almost drown. The poem attracted attention, and more published works by Phillis followed.
Unfortunately, many people could not bring themselves to accept the fact that an African-American slave had written such words of beauty. Slaves were certainly not the intellectual equal of whites, many thought. They were savages, fit for nothing better than field work.
Undaunted, however, Phillis continued to write. In 1773 she published her first and only book of poems, entitled Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral. Owing to the tenor of the times, the book contained a preface in which 17 men stated that Phillis was indeed the author of these poems.
Phillis thus became the first slave and first African-American to publish a book of poems. She received international acclaim, and went to London on a promotional jaunt.
Unfortunately, her later life was not as happy. After the deaths of John and Susanna, she sought to publish a second book of poems, but was turned down by every publisher she approached. She had three children with her husband John, but they all died in infancy. Plagued by poverty, Phillis was forced to work as a maid.
She was a big supporter of American independence, and wrote several poems about George Washington. She died in 1784. But even though her voice had been stilled, Phillis Wheatley had proven that, given a chance, African-Americans could be every bit as creative as whites.