Cotton Mather

Cotton Mather was a prominent New England preacher and leader. He advocated converting slaves to Christianity in order to save the souls of African people. This philosophy perpetuated the idea that Africans are better off in their enslaved condition because it allows them to be "saved" by the religious education of white people. Cotton Mather wrote a number of publications such as "The Negro Christianized" and "A Good Master Well Served." Mather "obsessed over maintaining social hierarchies" and was influential in doing so in the early colonial period. While protesting British rule over the colonies, Mather failed to recognize the inequalities perpetuated by his own ruling class in America. Mather's influential position in colonial New England meant that many of his philosophies and attitudes toward race, slavery, and social hierarchies were embedded in early American culture.

Phillis Wheatley

Phillis Wheatley was born in Africa, where she...