Notes on Phillis Wheatley

Wheatley is arguably one of the most discussed authors of her time. Her success is an accumulation of the many rare circumstances that she was afforded in life. One could argue that it was pure luck that afforded her the opportunity to be educated and published in a society that still supported slavery. Whetleys poetry has been received in many ways over many generations. Some support and understand her point of view while others criticize it and feel that she is a sell out and an Uncle Tom. Whatever ones opinion about her works may be, it is a fact that Phillis Wheatley was talented beyond her years and circumstances. One work that can best articulate the reasoning behind individuals mixed points of view regarding Wheatley is her poem “On Being Brought from Africa to America”.

It is important to give background on the life of Wheatley so that it will be easier to analyze the motivations of poetry. By looking back on how she came into her education and literary abilities it is easy to see why she felt so strong in her convictions in this poem. While the date and place of her birth are not documented, it is believed that Phillis Wheatley was born in 1753 in West Africa, and that during her childhood she was brought to British-ruled Boston, Massachusetts on July 11, 1761, on a slave ship named The Phillis own by Timothy Fitch and captained by Peter Gwinn. At the age of seven, she was sold to the wealthy Boston merchant and tailor John Wheatley, who bought her as a servant for his wife Susanna. John and Susanna Wheatley chose to name her Phillis, after the ship that had brought her to America. They also gave her their last name of Wheatley, as was a common custom during the time, if slaves had any last name at all. The Wheatley’s eighteen-year-old daughter, Mary, first tutored Phillis in reading and writing. Their son Nathaniel also helped her. John Wheatley was a progressive throughout New England; his family gave Phillis an education that was rare for an