Social Change, Revolutionary: Phillis Wheatley

Download Social Change, Revolutionary Word Document

Similar content addressed in SOLs: VS.1a-i; USI.1a-h; USI.5b-c

  • Phillis Wheatley (ca. 1753-1784) Poems on Various Subjects,Religious and Moral. . . Phillis Wheatley was a female slave poet. Her first book, /Poems on Various Subjects, /was published in 1773. It was one of the earliest books of poetry published by an African-American, and the first published by an African-American female slave. Her poems were mostly about her religion and how it influenced her life.
  • Poems on various subjects, religious and moralPhillis Wheatley was purchased by John Wheatley, a slave-owner from Boston. John Wheatley taught her how to read and write. Because many people did not think it was possible for an African-American woman to be able to write poetry as good as Phillis did, some accused her of not being the author of her book. However she did indeed write all of the poems in it, and John Wheatley, her master, supported her claims as author, as is seen here.
  • Poems on various subjects, religious and moralDespite being a slave, many of Phillis' poems deal with issues that were not related to her personal condition. Her poems were very similar, in subject and style, to those of other poets of that time. In this poem, for example, she talks about King George III of Britain.
  • Olaudah Equiano. The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African. Norwich: The Author, 1794.Although Phillis Wheatley's poetry did not discuss much of her life as a slave, she did inspire other African-Americans to write. One such former slave was Olaudah Equiano, who wrote down his life-story in the form a narrative. He became an important early leader in the abolition movement against slavery, and his autobiography became one the movement's most important texts.