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Phyllis Wheatley

Phyllis Wheatley. Letter To Reverend Samson Occom. Phyllis Wheatley (1753? – 1784). Slave who became a highly regarded Revolutionary poet. Born in West Africa. Brought to America when she was 8. Wheatley family bought her and taught her to read and write.

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Phyllis Wheatley

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  1. Phyllis Wheatley Letter To Reverend Samson Occom

  2. Phyllis Wheatley (1753? – 1784) • Slave who became a highly regarded Revolutionary poet. • Born in West Africa. Brought to America when she was 8. • Wheatley family bought her and taught her to read and write. • First poem published when she was 13.

  3. Wheatley… • Became famous for a poem about the death of George Whitehead. • Went to London with Wheatley, and made a great impression on British court.

  4. Letter To Rev. Occom • written in 1774 • directly addresses the injustice of slavery in a way that she does not in her poetry. • letter was written shortly after the death of her mistress, when she had been freed for four months. • Her recipient, Samson Occom, was a Native American preacher who, like Wheatley, was introduced in England as a Christian prodigy

  5. Revolutionary War • Returned to Boston in 1773. • Wrote poems supporting the American cause, which included “To His Excellency, George Washington.” • Was invited to visit by Washington himself as a result of the poem.

  6. Later years… • Freed by Wheatley family in 1778 when John Wheatley died. • Married John Peters, a free black man. • He was eventually imprisoned because he could not keep a job.

  7. Death… • Had three children with Peters, but two died in infancy. • Poetry fell into obscurity, though she published a second collection. • Died alone and impoverished in 1778.

  8. Personification • The attribution of human powers and characteristics to something that is not human, such as an object, and aspect of nature, or an abstract idea.

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