Phillis Wheatley
Born c. 1753
West Africa
Died December 5, 1784
Boston, Massachusetts
Slave, poet
"In every human breast, God has implanted a Principle, which we call Love of Freedom."
Phillis Wheatley, who spent her childhood as a slave, has been called the "Mother of Black Literature." The young girl became a sensation in Boston in the 1760s when her well-crafted poems made her famous. Wheatley's writing abilities and intelligence were an impressive example to English and American audiences of how a person can triumph over the circumstances of oppression.
In the mid-eighteenth century, slave trading played a large role in America's economy. Ships would leave the American East Coast for the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea with products to trade there for rum. They then traveled on to Africa, where they traded the rum for men, women, and children, who were transported back to America to be sold as slaves. During the trip across the seas from Africa, people were jammed together in unsanitary conditions, and many died from sickness or starvation. Young Phillis was kidnapped from West Africa and brought across the Atlantic Ocean on the slave ship Phillis, which landed in Massachusetts's Boston Harbor on July 11, 1761.
Sold as a Slave; Becomes Educated
After the Phillis arrived in Boston in 1761, the captain placed a notice in the newspaper that he had slaves for sale.
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