He was quoted as saying "I wanted to be the first to view a country on which the eyes of a white man had never gazed and to follow the course of rivers that run through a new land.” ~ Jedediah Smith…
Anne Bradstreet and Phillis Wheatley were two major women poets who wrote about the obstacles they had to overcome in their lives. Some obstacles these women had to overcome were being able to produce and publish acceptable work as well as gender and racial difficulties. Anne Bradstreet was the first published poet in the New World and Phillis Wheatley was an African slave. Both of these women wrote brilliant poetry that is still read today.…
To begin I want to thank you for your service to our country. I admire your benevolence. Phyllis Wheatly was very impressive. Having to face all the discrimination and obstacles people put in her way could not have been easy. Then to still have had such love and pride for this country showed big character on her part after the horrors she she witnessed during her time in slavery. In "To His Excellency General Washington" Phyllis wrote "enough thou know'st them in the fields of fight . Thee first in peace and honor - we demand " in her famous peom that she actually sent to him during this war. This quote acknowledges that America knew how hard it was for our service men on the front lines but we were not going down without a fight. George…
Eudora Welty was born in Jackson, Mississippi on April 13, 1909. She was the oldest of three children and the only girl of a very close-knit family. Her father, Christian Webb Welty, was an Ohio native who worked for an insurance company. Her mother, Mary Chestina Welty, had been a schoolteacher in West Virginia. Welty’s mother, being a schoolteacher, loved to read and influenced Welty to read at a young age. In her biography, Welty tells about her earliest memories of her parents reading to her and to each other at night. She was always surrounded by books and was always reading. Her love of reading led her to graduate high school and further her education, which most girls during this time…
Being subject to a variety of discriminations, being a woman and black she was able to publish successful poems, although commonly directed at the religious aspect of the importance of Christianity for a slave, she also touches upon issues relating to race in “On Being Brought from Africa to America” being a powerful insight into slavery leading us to connect these issues into Gilroy’s idea of the “Black Atlantic”. Using rhyme and iambic pedometer "On Being Brought" mixes themes of slavery, Christianity, and salvation, and although it's unusual for Wheatley to write about being a slave taken from Africa to America, this poem powerful addresses ideas of liberty, religion, and racial equality. Phillis Wheatley’s writings is all centred around the subject of change, as is the way we view the “Black Atlantic” Wheatley had to change her country, her name and chose to change her religion in order to help conquer the ideal her life had be subject…
William Penn was a holy man, a do-gooder by all means, who in 1681, was granted land in the New World, and set out to commence his “Religious Experiment”, with his Quaker brethren. Penn had a vision for his own utopia and would end up investing all of his assets in the newly found colony which is now Pennsylvania. Much of his money as well as other investors’ went to the process of actually acquiring the land which was one of the most crucial objectives in Penn’s plan. Because William Penn was a religious man, and because the land he acquired was already partially settled by native tribes, the financial capital needed to execute a smooth and peaceful transaction was quite enormous for the time.…
Did you know Gwendolyn Brooks was the first African-American, male or female, to win the Pulitzer Prize (eNotes.com)? Brooks was born on June 7, 1917 and began to have an interest in poem early in her life. Her first poem was published at the age of thirteen in the American Childhood Magazine in 1930. Today she is known for having more than twenty books of poems published like “The Children Coming Home” (“Gwendolyn Brooks,”PoetsPath.com). In many of Brooks’s poems she uses many literary terms to elaborate more on the theme of her poems. One poem of hers called “The Bean Eaters” recounts how an old couple upholds their lives together. In the poem there is no mention of any friends or relatives of the couple that accompany them, but only their memories and their little possessions. Although they "eat beans mostly" and "dinner is a casual affair," they dine while recalling all their amusing and wonderful memories of the past (litmed.med.nyu.edu). In the poem “The Bean Eaters,” Brooks uses symbols and imagery to help her explore the theme of an elderly couple maintaining their existence.…
Many people see being deaf as a disability, but deaf people do not see it that way. Throughout the years, many accomplishments have been made by deaf people. One of them being William Hoy. William Hoy, also known as "Dummy", was the most successful deaf baseball player in Major League history. He played center field for several teams from 1888 to 1902. He developed most of his reputation while playing for the Cincinnati Reds and two teams from Washington, D.C.. As a result of William Hoy being a deaf baseball player, the use of hand signals was established to be used for him and have been used ever since.…
Phyllis Wheatley was born in 1753 in West Africa. Wheatley was brought from Africa to Boston by a ship called Phillis. She was then sold to Wheatley family. Hence, the name Phyllis Wheatley. The Wheatley family was supportive of Phyllis education, their daughter and son helped educate her. Her first poem was published in the newpaper in 1767. Pyllis traveled to london, in hopes of meeting the Countess. The countess was unable to meet with Phyllis, but helped her published her volume of poems. When, Pyllis returned home, she was given her freedom. Phyllis was the first published African American woman and poet.…
Phillis Wheatley was the first African American poet published in the United States. Wheatley was born in West Africa around 1753. She was captured as a slave in the area called Senegal. Wheatley was brought to America in one of the slave ships. In 1761 Wheatley was sold when she was about seven years old at a slave auction to a wealthy Boston merchant whose wife is named Susannah Wheatley. Wheatley showed a curiosity and ability for learning that led the Wheatley’s to want to educate her. Wheatley had a little room where she did all her reading and writing. The Wheatley’s wanted to educate her through bible study. Wheatley was taught how to read and write English and studied Classical and Contemporary poetry. Wheatley did so well she also learned how to read French, Latin, and Greek literature.…
Because Wheatley was brought to American and freed from slavery, she was able to experience a number of positive aspects due to her freeing. Not only was Phillis Wheatley able to learn how to read and write, but she was also guided towards the light of Christianity. In her poem “On Being Brought from Africa to America,” she expresses that once she was brought from her homeland and in to America, she learned about God and the ways of the God above. For example, Wheatley states, “Twas mercy brought me from my pagan land, taught my benighted soul to understand” (lines 1-2). Wheatley goes on to demonstrate her belief that not only is there a Savior, but a God as well—she devotes her entire life and soul to both of these.…
The significance of knowing the experience of African American women during and after the war is imperative because this particular group of women played major roles during the colonial period. From spies, to fighting alongside other men, women were involved heavily, whether fighting as a patriots or Loyalists. A woman like Phillis Wheatley is recognized due to her heroic actions and sacrifice during the war. Phillis Wheatley is considered a hero because she is the first black author. She was a patriot and a symbol for abolitionists who wrote poems about patriotism, battles, and the magnitude of America. African Americans women unlike Caucasian women were enslaved before the start of the American Revolution. Forcing to work on farms every day and provide for their owner day in and day out, African American women did not see a way out of slavery until the start of the war. Promising their freedom and independence there was a wave of women as well as men that entered the war. These high numbers of African Americans that enlisted into battle started a wave of support for the American and the British. Not all women fought alongside of the men, in fact, there were women that chose to take care of their slave owner wives and some acted as…
Zora Neale Hurston was a phenomenal woman. At the height of her success she was known as the "Queen of the Harlem Renaissance." She came to overcome obstacles that were placed in front of her. Hurston rose from poverty to fame and lost it all at the time of her death. Zora had an unusual life; she was a child that was forced to grow up to fast. But despite Zora Neale Hurston's unsettled life, she managed to surmount every obstacle to become one of the most profound authors of the century.…
Anne Bradstreet was born and raised into a house of a puritan nobleman, her father. When she began life on her own, she started to write poems. She was the first to come out with a volume of poems and also the first American woman poet ever at this time. Her poems usually consisted of her family, medicine, and fires but she also wrote about her puritan beliefs that one must not become too attached to things of this world. (pg. 26 Anne Bradstreet 1612-1672)…
Phillis Wheatley holds the accomplishment of being the first published African American writer. Her story is very different from the other published African American writers. Unlike most of the writers to follow her she was not born into slavery and she is not of a mixed race. Phillis Wheatley was abducted from her parents and her home in West Africa when she was around seven years old, she was named for the slave ship The Phillis that delivered her into slavery. I was surprised to learn Phillis Wheatley viewed slavery as an opportunity rather than a cruel and dehumanizing system. Her works differ from the writers to follow because she does not openly discourage slavery.…
