PHILLIS WHEATLEY
Lifespan:1753 – December 5, 1784
Phillis Wheatley was captured and sold to slavery when she was seven years old. On July 11, 1761, she was brought to Boston, Massachusetts on a slave ship called The Phillis. She was then sold to John Wheatley, a wealthy Boston merchant, who bought her as a servant for his wife Susanna. The Wheatleys named the 8 year old girl Phillis after the ship that brought her to America. Phillis adopted her master’s last name as was the custom for slaves. Phillis Wheatley started writing poetry by the age of 13 and, from the age of 14, her poems appeared in certain newspapers and periodicals in U.S. and Britain. Her first poetry collection was published in September, 1773 in London making her the first published African-American woman. Phillis Wheatley was a renowned poet and her work was praised by several prominent figures of the time including George Washington and Benjamin Franklin. Wheatley was ultimately freed from slavery. However, she struggled due to poverty and died at the young age of 31.
FAMOUS POEMS:-
On Being Brought From Africa to America1773
To His Excellency General Washington1775
On Virtue1773
