Phillis Wheatley was captured and shipped across the Middle Passage across the Atlantic Ocean at age 7. The Senegambian young girl was purchased at a Boston auction in 1761 by John Wheatley for his wife Susanna. Her birth name is unknown to us, as the little girl was given the name of the slave vessel that tore her away from everything she’d ever known.
A Genius in Bondage
Phillis soon demonstrated such a capacity for languages that she could read fluent English by age 9. What’s more, she read and translated Greek and Latin classics by age 10. As a young teenager, she composed poetry in which she showed a remarkable grasp of literature, geography, history and politics. At 13, she published her first poem in the Newport Mercury. David Waldstreicher, a biographer of Wheatley stated, “She became fluent and culturally literate and able to write poems in English so quickly that we shouldn’t hesitate to call her a genius.”
The Published Teenage Poet
The Wheatley family took Phillis to church, exposing her to the teachings of men such as George Whitefield. Such was her knowledge of theology that only six years after she arrived in the Americas, she composed the poem “An Address to the Deist,” in defence of the doctrine of the Trinity.
By age 19, Phillis had written enough poems to publish a book. No publisher in the colonies, however, would print a book by a Black author. Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral was published in London and opened with a portrait of Wheatley.
In the following pages, the signatures of eighteen prominent Boston leaders appeared to attest to the authenticity of her work. She became the first African American and the third colonial American woman to have her works published. She was also the first African American to sit for an individualized portrait.
The Captive Freed
Wheatley travelled to England with her owner’s adult son on a publicity tour. She was not merely accepted but beloved. Her host in London was famed abolitionist Granville Sharp (known among Bible nerds for his scholarly work in koine Greek).
Upon returning to Boston, she negotiated her manumission. She went on to marry a freed Black man named John Peters, with whom she has three children. Tragically, they all perished. Unable to support herself with her writing, she found work as a maid. Little else is known of these years. Wheatley died in poverty at age 30. Her genius leaves a mark on history, but it was her faith in Jesus that we remember her most by:
But O that I could dwell on and delight in [Jesus] alone above every other object! While the world hangs loose about us we shall not be in painful anxiety in giving up to God, that which he first gave to us.
To learn more about Phillis and other exceptional women, I recommend reading Empowered: How God Shaped 11 Women’s Lives (And Can Shape Yours Too) by Catherine Parks.
