In: Psychology
Phillis Wheatley (featured in the documents on pages 141–146) is considered the first African-American woman poet of the United States. As you can see from the documents in our textbook, beyond being a published poet she had recognized correspondence with a number of state leaders, including George Washington (the letter not printed in that section, unfortunately, but you may read His Excellency General Washington (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site... How does Wheatley challenge or contradict the image of a "slave woman" in the Revolutionary period? Refer to at least one specific poem or letter in your response of at least 250 words.
Phillis Wheatley, the first African American poet in the United States whose prolific work has had a great impact on the African American literature.
She was born in Gambia in Africa and taken as a slave to the United States when she was only 7 years old. Her name came to be Wheatley as she worked as a slave for a rich family in Boston called the ‘Wheatley’.
After her poetic success and acknowledgement from George Washington himself , she was emancipated from her owners. She greatly challenged the assumption of white Americans that Black could write poetry. In a way her poetry also highlighted the struggles of a slave women. Her poetry titled ‘ On being brought from Africa to America’ reflects the same and also height of racism that existed in America back then before the Civil War.
The revolutionary period was right after the American War of Independence in 1776 and was marked by intense racism and brining of Africans as slaves to the new world. They had no rights and lived in miserable condition broken away from their families and kin members