Written in 1773, Phyllis Wheatley wrote a poem to criticize the Christians who were for slavery. “On Being Brought from Africa to America” was addressed to the white slaving owning class and to blatantly call them out on not being very good Christians. While her ideological stance is not clear at the beginning of the poem, especially when she starts praising slavery, it becomes clear from the fifth line and to the end of the poem that she argues that blacks are just the same as whites. She is very much this inequality, and wishes to end slavery and this notion of whites being superior to blacks. She becomes very active and condemns the hypocrisy of those who believe in God yet continue to own slaves, and her beliefs is strengthened by her excellent …show more content…
She proclaims that “’Twas mercy brought me from my pagan land” at very start, and this line draws the audience in (Wheatley 1). She is thanking slavery because she went from a pagan to a Christian, and that slavery “taught [her] benighted soul to understand” the wonders of being a Christian (Wheatley 3). Immediately, it grabs the reader’s attention and for two possible reasons: either for being satisfied that a slave is showing gratitude to the white class for enslaving her or for non-slave owners to wonder what is even going on, as it is not often that a former slave is thankful of the time they’ve served. The first four lines of praise compels the audience to continue reading until they are suddenly hit with Wheatley’s true intent of the poem. She takes the focus off herself and starts actively talking about the white class who “[…] view [her] sable race with scornful eye” and says that her race’s “[…] color is a diabolic dye” (Wheatley 5-6). She points out the flaws in which the slave owners have and how they see blacks as a class beneath them. In order to be good Christians, one must treat everyone equally, yet these exact same believers are doing the opposite of what the bible states. In the New Testament, James 2
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
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.
Over twelve million immigrants entered the United States from 1892 to 1954 through Ellis Island, a small island in New York Harbor. Ellis Island is located right off of the New Jersey coast in the upper bay near the Statue of Liberty. Over the years the islands sized enlarged from its original 3.3 acres to 27.5 acres from landfill obtained from ship ballast and the construction of the New York City subway system.
On his poem, On Being Brought from Africa to America, she declared, “'Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land,” Here, African-Americans were kicked out of Africa, a land of paradise to these people, to be sold to slavery in America and treated like dogs. In the poem, he revealed that White people commentated on Blacks by saying, "Their colour is a diabolic die.". These black people were viewed as related to sin, and they were treated very poorly. Additionally, this poem stated, “Some view our sable race with scornful eye,”. Whenever white people saw these black people, they would undertreat these African Americans and treat them as lower level
Unlike the earlier era, in which they had received freedom but it was so new to them, and they truly didn’t understand what it meant to be a free group, they began to move into a time period where they were finding their voice, and “finding their freedom”. Instead of writing about becoming free, and wanting freedom, they begin to act free. They begin to prove they were free by giving off confident in their culture and in their work. In her writing she has many different subsections where she rebuttals the ideas pushed onto the African American race. She proves the stereotypes wrong using the truth. The first example is, under the section titled “originality” she wrote, “it has been said so often that the negro is lacking in originality that has almost become a gospel. Outward signs seem to bear this out. But if one looks closely its falsity is immediately evident.” and , “So if we look at it squarely, the Negro is a very original being. While he lives and moves in the midst of a white civilian, everything that he touches is re-interpreted for his own use. He has modified the language, mode of food preparation, practice of medicine, and most certainly the religion of his new country, just as he adapted to suit himself the sheik haircut made famous by Rudolph Valentino.” this passage shows how much she believes in her race. She isn’t asking for anything from anyone. She doesn’t beg for respect, acceptance, or freedom, she is telling them to treat them like they are free. This passage really exemplifies the theme of accepting themselves and their culture during this time period. The African Americans were able to begin to stand up for themselves and up against the falsely acclaimed stereotypes that have been made against them. During this time period they were recreating the culture that had been taken away from them. They were finding their voice through
...e to the audience that the Bible adheres to the deserved emancipation and support of African-Americans, rather than enslavement and oppression. For example, Douglass preaches, “ A worship that can be conducted by persons who refuse to give shelter to the houseless, to give bread to the hungry, clothing to the naked, and who enjoin obedience to a law forbidding these acts of mercy, is a curse, not a blessing to mankind. The Bible addresses all such persons as ‘scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites, who pay tithe of mint, anise, and cumin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy and faith.” By using Matthew 23:23 to assert American Christians as righteously indignant, Douglass infers that if the White American people are truly Christian, they will obey the doctrines of The Bible and negate their duplicity by showing love and mercy to black people.
In the first line, she says “Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land” (Wheatley 154) which shows us that she is talking about where she came from and her conversion. This is surprising because Wheatley is stating that god has affected her life before she even believed in god. In the next line, Wheatley says “Taught my benighted soul to understand” (Wheatley 154). She is inferring that her soul is benighted, overtaken by darkness, and her conversion has brought her into the light. This proves that she is Christian. In the third line, she says “That there’s a God, that there’s a Saviour too” (Wheatley 154). This is significant because this is where she starts to believe in god which forms the idea that anyone can be converted. Wheatley thinks that blacks and whites should be considered equal because they believe in the same god. In the next line, she says “Once I redemption neither sought nor knew” (Wheatley 154). This is truly a Christian thing to say because she is talking about her soul’s redemption because of her belief in god. Hence, Wheatley also thinks that blacks and whites can be forgiven of their sins through their belief in god. After a couple lines, Wheatley says “Remember, Christians, Negroes, black as Cain, May be refin’d, and join th’ angelic train” (Wheatley 154). This statement is aimed at Christians, telling them that they should accept blacks too. Through all of this imagery, it is shown that Wheatley wants any race of people to achieve redemption and get treated the same way as
The typical African-American experience with migration is seen through my family’s migration experience. Their experience was typical, reflected in most freed slave’s stories. This story starts off with a freed slave; this was due to the Emancipation Proclamation. “During the Civil War in 1863, a huge step was made in the favor of enslaved African-Americans. The President at the time, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing slaves in the southern states at war with the North. The Emancipation Proclamation was so important because it gave enslaved black people the chance to leave their owners, move north, and finds jobs or start new lives with their families.” (Boundless)
“You are in America, speak English.” As a young child hearing these words, it did not only confuse me but it also made me question my belonging in a foreign country. As a child I struggled with my self-image; Not being Hispanic enough because of my physical appearance and not being welcomed enough in the community I have tried so hard to integrate myself with. Being an immigrant with immigrant parents forces you to view life differently. It drives you to work harder or to change the status quo for the preconceived notion someone else created on a mass of people. Coming to America filled me with anxiety, excitement, and even an unexpected wave of fear.
Immigrants have always been an important part of United States’ population. Each year, there are hundreds of thousands of immigrants, from all around the world, including legal and illegal, come into the United States for job opportunities, new life, or the American Dream. “Immigrants have contributed significantly to the development of the United States. During the Lincoln administration, immigrants were actually encouraged to come to America, as they were considered valuable to the development of the country.” (Soylu & Buchanan, 2013). They believe that the US will give them more freedom, protection, and opportunities, which sometimes it becomes the major issues for immigrants. That’s why “the U.S. population is becoming more racially and
The ideal that African American’s were supposed to be held as second class citizens was ingrained into many colonial Americans upon the foundation of this country. It is expressed in movies, literature, and primary sources from and that portray that time frame. Scrolling through my literature book struggling with what poem to choose for this paper I stumbled upon John Saffin, the author of The Negroes Character, whose volatile personality was said to have made him many enemies. One of his enemies being Samuel Sewall who fought to free Saffin’s slaves, which turned into a serious drawn out legal case. John Saffin’s poem shows how he felt about slaves and why he wasn’t interested in the release of his slaves and any others.
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
What is the impact of colonialism on the economic development of Sub-Saharan Africa (Africa) or more generally the colonized countries? This is a question which has reiterated itself through the social sciences for over a century. Colonialism refers to the establishment of political and economic control by one state over another. The colonial experience began in the late 1400s, when Europeans arrived and set up trading posts in Africa. They became interested in Africa as a whole. Europeans were impressed with the abundance of natural resources. It reached a peak in the late 1800s and early 1900s, when European powers dominated many parts of the continent. Colonialism in Africa created nations and shaped their political, economic, and cultural
(a) Africans and Europeans have relations that date all the way back to the origins of humans and human migrations. Scholars have hypothesized that Homo erectus found in Europe about 800,000 years ago originated and migrated from Africa Europeans and Africans also had religious relations; which is evident from the spread of Christianity, introduced by the Byzantines, throughout Africa specifically in North Africa, the Nile Valley, and the Horn of Africa. Aside from religious relations, Africans and Europeans also had economic and political relations as a result of European colonization and conquest of the African regions. Economic relations were a result of Europeans coming into Africa and taking natural resources to benefit from in the production of goods and trade. Another specific example of economic relations between Europeans and Africans is the practice of mercantilism, in which European nations were the mother countries and countries of Africa were the colonies. As the mother country, Europeans, would take natural resources from the colony, African regions, to produce goods, which would then be sold back to the colony. This also attributed to the political relations between Africans and Europeans because the economic desires of the Europeans often led to them controlling the Africans to maximize profit and their own personal benefits; which is directly related to slavery, one of the biggest relations between Africans and Europeans. Slavery and the slave trade in turn created social relations because slaves were considered to be a class of their own. Another social relation that resulted from slavery was the creation a “new race” known as the...
Forced migration is the process of displacement weather voluntarily or involuntarily. People are made to leave their home and homeland for causes of violent persecution, danger, and authority, such as government or other people trying to overthrow the government. People who are displaced are called refugees. Typically, refugees leave the area or their homeland due to a natural disaster, for example Hurricane Katrina and the citizens of New Orleans Louisiana and or War or conflict. Forced migration can be voluntarily so people who leave voluntarily are able to control where they want to go and what they are trying to achieve for themselves and their family. On the other hand, involuntarily forced