Phyllis Wheatley

Phillis Wheatley, one of America’s most profound writers, has contributed greatly to American literature. Commonly renown as the mother of African American Literature, Wheatley is best known for her sympathetic portrayals of African American thought in the late 1700’s. Wheatley’s literary contributions are immense and distinguish her apart from most writers of her time. Her writings have helped in the molding of not only African American literature and tradition, but by people of all ethnic backgrounds. Phillis Wheatley is forever remembered as a revolutionary voice in American literature.

At the age of eight, Phillis (born in Africa) had arrived in America and been bought as a servant by a Caucasian woman, named Susannah Wheatley. Though growing up enslaved, she was educated very well and developed a very strong talent in writing early on in her age. She later began to write works that express the feelings of anger, frustration, and impatience of the African American people. Also, her faith in God and Christian beliefs clearly lead to her belief that slavery will eventually be abolished. These ideas laid the framework for most of her writing

Despite living in a nation that strongly supported slavery, yet proclaiming itself as the “land of the free,” Phillis’ ideas and messages at the heart of her writing quietly struck radical humanist arguments. With only opposition facing her, she successfully became the first African American woman to be published in 1767. However, 1771 was the year of publication of her first major work entitled “On an elegy to evangelist George Whitefield.” In the UK, Britons commended 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. Over the next few years, Wheatley’s popularity among the leaders of Massachusetts grew fast

Being the first of her kind to be published, she was also the first to achieve a number many great accomplishments such as being the first African American to compose a book of imaginative writing. To add, she is the originator of the African American literary tradition and also of the African American women’s tradition. Wheatley combined the influences of religion and neo-classicism in her poems.