Born in Gambia in western Africa, PHILLIS WHEATLEY (c. 1753-1784) became the first African American to publish a work of literature, and only the second woman in America to publish a book of poems. She was taken from Africa as a slave at age seven or eight and was sold to John and Susanna Wheatley of Boston in July 1761. She published her first poem in the Newport Mercury in 1767, and thereafter continued to write poetry - mostly elegies of personal acquaintances and prominent individuals. By the early 1770s, Wheatley had mastered eighteenth-century poetic form, but her verse clearly reflects an integration of African, European, and American influences. In 1773, after considerable controversy among Boston's leading men over the authenticity of her manuscript, Wheatley sailed to London to seek support for her first collection of poetry, which was published under the title Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral. Shortly thereafter, she earned her freedom and returned to America. Combining religious imagery and political patriotism, the following poems reflect both the drive for American independence and the strong desire among blacks to be free. Widely regarded as the "founding mother" of African-American literature, Wheatley's poetry remains a powerful testament to the possibilities of black literary achievement under slavery.
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On Being Brought from Africa to America
'Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land,
Taught my benighted soul to understand
That there's a God, that there's a Saviour too:
Once I redemption neither sought nor knew.
Some view our sable race with scornful eye,
"Their colour is a diabolic die."
Remember, Christians, Negros, black as Cain,
May be refin'd, and join th' angelic train.