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Poems on various subjects by phillis wheatley
Slavery and the american revolutionary war
Slavery and the american revolutionary war
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In 1773, Phillis Wheatley introduced controversy to her insight in politics and her slavery through poetry. The poem “To his Excellency General Washington”, shows the dedication that Wheatley proposed to politics and the problems of the America. Wheatley anticipates the future of this war that the new world is in to break away from the British. She shows the strength and triumph of the new world before the outcome of this war. This proposed Wheatley as a groundbreaker to poetry and the freedom in the new world fighting for independence. Wheatley’s poems and her personal struggle of slavery intertwine to her overall goal of each poem. This demonstrates the bold stand and positioning that Wheatley took to as an African American female poet. Wheatley exhibits her struggle of being …show more content…
The fact that she had the vouch of the higher most Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine even General Washington and it still that her work played the later influences on the new nation. She proposed all the answers of this great new nation in the letter she wrote General Washington. Wheatley is showing that we will have a freed new nation and be independent to create our own outlook on life. She sent motivation and hopes of being free and it was coming from the African American woman who was once a slave. “Thee, first in place and honors-we demand The grace and glory of thy martial band (Wheatley 273:25). This is just describing that the war they are fighting is a fight of what they deserve and they should keep pushing to get the victory. The excellence and motivation and intellectual writing were enough to get General Washington to want to meet her. “In To the Right Honorable William, Earl of Dartmouth, His Majesty’s Principal Secretary of State for North America, &c”. Wheatley that America is no longer mourning the strain of the wrongs that was left from England and being determined to be
A little background on the author of “Liberty and Peace” Mrs. Phillis Wheatley she was brought to the America in the 1700’s from west Africa for slavery. However, she was only seven years old and end up in Boston instead of the south other slaves. It was there where her literary talents were discovered by her slave masters the Wheatley’s. She was taught to read and write like the other children within the Wheatley’s household. Her first published poem was at the age of thirteen told the story of rescue at sea and was published without any problems. However even though she was literate she was still far away from her homeland. She expressed her feels through her later poems, which many were not published because of her being an African
Readers unfamiliar with Phillis Wheatley may wonder of her background and who she was in particular to be able to gain rights to be mentioned in early American literature. Wheatley was born in 1753 and was captured by Africans, and sold to an American family known as the Wheatley’s. She quickly became a member of the Wheatley family, living in the home, and being tutored on reading and writing.
Wheatley was born in West Africa around 1750, and was captured when she was 7. John Wheatley purchased Phillis for his wife, Susanna; together they taught Phillis how to read and write, and as early as 12, Phillis was writing poetry and her first poem had been published. Wheatley’s poems implicitly advocated for racial equality, while condemning slavery. Her work received some negative feedback from political figureheads, such as Thomas Jefferson. White America classified a human as having the ability to read, write, and reason; therefore, leaving no room for the uneducated Africans, seeing Africans as nonhuman. Jefferson claimed Wheatley’s work was not literature because the moment he admitted Wheatley’s work was indeed literature, he would have had to admit she was a human being. The way Phillis Wheatley handled the adversity she faced is admirable. Wheatley definitely impacted American history, and “owes her place in history to advocates of inequality” (Young 1999
As a final point, Phillis Wheatley may have been bought a slave but she never lost faith and ended up being one of the best known poets in the early nineteenth century. This poem illustrates how she was living in darkness in Senegal, West Africa and because of slavery she was bought and brought to America. In this poem “On Being Brought from Africa to America,” Wheatley uses poetic devices such as similes, metaphors, hyperboles to illustrate color and darkness, multiple meanings of words, and the relationship between skin tone and salvation. This poem seems to be a narrative of her life and how slavery might have been the best thing that happened to her.
Throughout the poem, “To the University of Cambridge, in New England”, Phyllis Wheatley suggest that she accepted the colonial idea of slavery, by first describing her captivity, even though this poem has a subversive double meaning that has sent an anti-slavery message. Wheatley’s choice of words indicates that her directed audience was educated at a sophisticated level because of the language chosen. Her audience was assumingly also familiar with the bible because of the religious references used. The bible was used as a reference because of its accessibility. Wheatley uses religious references to subversively warn her readers about slavery and its repercussions and to challenge her reader’s morals.
To further analyze a more spoiled African American of the time, Phillis Wheatley did address the issues of her race as much as Sojourner Truth did. Wheatley mainly wrote “to Whites, for Whites and generally in the Euro-American tradition at that time” (Jamison 408). Her content focused on Christianity, morality, virtue, and other non-African-American-related topics. Her poetry has an underlying attitude of a white, not an African American. She shares the same views and attitude as a Caucasian, therefore she is part of African American literature because she was born into it, but she did not share the particular views and struggles of the African American population. She was heavily praised, because it was not expected from an African such as herself, although her upbringing should be considered. Some white men admired her work, because it was more than
Phillis Wheatley marks the beginning of the African-American literary tradition. Although she is the first African-American to become a published author, it is Wheatley’s work that proves her originality as it reflects a specific time in American history, her status as a slave, and a young woman of Christian faith (Harris). Each of these inherently contribute to her fresh African-American perspective. Wheatley is ingenious in the way she subtly ties in the roots of slavery and racism in a way that whites did not feel guarded. Not only does her work allow those with a conscious to at least somewhat consider the African-American point of view, but it invites criticism by those who care not to see African-Americans as intelligent equal beings that deserve respect. Some of the African-American community also criticizes that Wheatley did not speak enough about the injustices of slavery and prejudices of her time (Scheick). These critics are simply unable to see the Wheatley’s intent as her writing breeds originality and attention to a young and well-educated African-American woman whose words could stifle her freedoms if put any other way. In evaluating Wheatley’s On Being Brought from Africa to America, An Hymn to the Evening, and To the University of Cambridge, in New-England it is clear to see that she could only be imitative in style perhaps, but nuances of her heritage is what places her “writing at the heart of any definition of an African-American canon” (Harris).
During the American Revolution, Washington and his men were experiencing a series of defeat. In order to bring about great pride and patriotism of an American, they sought to plan a sneak attack on the opposite force. On December 25, Washington and 5,400 troops began crossing the Delaware River to the Hessian stronghold. At this point in time, the Hessians were celebrating Christmas; this was a perfect time for an attack. When Washington and his men arrived, they started attacking the unsuspected Hessians; nearly 1,000 Hessians were captured. Even though the attack was not significant, it raised American spirit. In 1851, Emanuel Leutze created the image of Washington Crossing the Delaware; the painting was later destroyed, but restored by another artist. The mood of the painting can be described as intense and patriotic. Later, a poem called “Washington Crossing the Delaware” was written by David Shulman. The mood of the poem
Phillis Wheatley was an African-born slave in the last quarter of the eighteenth-century in New England. She was born in West Africa and brought to America on the slave ship Phillis. She was, however, much more than chattel-she was a poet. Phillis was the first African American to have a book published. In a time when women were not expected to be able to read or write, and when teaching an African American to be literate was frowned upon, Phillis Wheatley became educated in Latin and English literature. The education of Phillis Wheatley was, for the most part, for the intent of training "a servant and would-be companion for domestic utility," in which they undoubtedly succeeded. However, they "got an intellectual adornment" who, with her knowledge of the poems of Alexander Pope, the "Puritanical whiteness of her thoughts," and ability to write poems, soon became a celebrity among Boston?s social elite (Richmond 18,19).
Phillis Wheatley, who is now known as one of America’s most scholarly writers, has made a major impact on American Literature today. Her role in Literature had influenced many African Americans during this time period because it was very uncommon for them to become educated. Her poems made some people realize that they shouldn’t have slaves. Many people say that Phillis Wheately should go down in history as a hero while others say that she should not. Phillis is a historical hero because of the extraordinary courage that she showed by writing her poems while facing the adversities that she encountered. People disagree with this statement because they say that she did not make a difference in history.
Wheatley, Phillis, and Margaretta Odell. Memoir and poems of Phillis Wheatley, a Native African and a Slave. Boston: Geo. W. Light, 1834. eBook.
She writes, “Famed for thy valor, for thy virtues and more,/Hear every tongue thy guardian aid implore!” (Lines 27-28) She fames George Washington as a great ruler, virtuous and brave. She publishes this poem in popular newspapers and magazines to make known Washington’s virtuous qualities to “every tongue.” By taking this opportunity to publicize her work, she perceived the current political environment and seized the opportunity to show her support for revolutionary America. (Lamore,
The poetry of Phillis Wheatley is crafted in such a manner that she is able to create a specific aim for each poem, and achieve that aim by manipulating her position as the speaker. As a slave, she was cautious to cross any lines with her proclamations, but was able to get her point across by humbling her own position. In religious or elegiac matters, however, she seemed to consider herself to be an authority. Two of her poems, the panegyric “To MAECENAS” and the elegy “On the Death of a young Lady of Five Years of Age,” display Wheatley’s general consistency in form, but also her intelligence, versatility, and ability to adapt her position in order to achieve her goals.
Mason, Jr., Julian D. The Poems of Phillis Wheatley. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1989.
The clash between racial reality and idea is what is artistically shown in “on being brought from Africa to America”. Wheatley is a subtle rebel. At the beginning of her poem she shows thanks for being enslaved because it brought happiness to her life in finding Christianity, but as time goes by we start to see the true tone of Wheatley, which clearly show in the last two lines of the poem, now Wheatley begins to take a big position of power as if she already has the attention of the reader. Wheatley continues by saying that Africans may not be perfect but the Christians who enslave human beings aren’t