Phyllis Wheatly

Phillis Wheatley wasn’t your typical American poet. She was born on the west coast of Africa and sold into slavery at the age of seven. She was abducted and bought by an American named John Wheatley. Right away Mr. Wheatley recognized the child’s’ preciousness and raised “her with an education that included Latin writers, Scripture, and English Literature” (Cushman: 74). Mr. Wheatley raised her as his own daughter and treated her as if she were not a slave. At the young age of twenty she became such an influential poet that she traveled to England to promote her poetry. Upon returning to America she was freed and married a young man named John Peters. While married Wheatley was faced with many hardships including losing her first two children. She later died giving birth to her third child who shortly outlived her. Mrs. Wheatley although faced with a troubled past of being trapped into slavery she was very thankful for being brought to America. While in America she...