On July 11, 1761, John Avery stood on the crowded dock at Boston Harbor, eyeing potential customers. A cargo of slaves he had advertised for weeks had arrived from West Africa on the schooner Phillis. Having already seen the slaves, he knew there were too many women and children. When he found a buyer for a young, thin girl of about seven, he was likely thrilled. Unknown to all, this girl, wrapped only in a piece of carpet would soon become a pioneer for both African-American slaves and women of all ethnic backgrounds in literature.
Susannah Wheatley was the wife of John Wheatley, a wealthy Boston tailor. Now over 50, with grown daughters and aging servants, her goal that summer day was to find a young female slave she could train to be a domestic servant and companion in her later years. Drawn to the sickly girl, Susannah purchased her for a pittance and named her Phillis Wheatley. Phillis taken from the ship that marked her arrival to the United States and Wheatley being the family, which was customary of the times.
Kidnapped from her home on the West coast of Africa, Phillis had likely already spent several months on the ship in unspeakable conditions. Ships often held between 70 and 150 slaves. Those who misbehaved were deprived of food, whipped, or even killed, and the threat of disease was ever-present. Once in Boston, Phillis's next journey began with uniformed men, and finely dressed women filling the streets, and the foreign sounds and smells that surrounded her.
According to the Newport, Rhode Island, and Triangle Trade: The Economic implications of the Rhode Island Slave trade, meant the vessels transported slaves in small numbers, because a larger number of slaves made trading ships gut the markets with slaves in poor condition. Ships rarely exceeded 200 tons and carried 75 to 100 slaves per voyage in order to minimize the risk of sickness, but disease and revolt were the two biggest killers on the ships.
It didn't take long for Susannah to realize that Phillis was a remarkably bright girl. Her eagerness to learn was evident by the chalk writing found on a wall inside the house—Phillis' earliest attempts at writing. Had she lived as a southern slave, Phillis would most likely have been beaten for such an act, but Susannah did not punish her. She was fond of the girl who, while obviously intelligent, was neither well nor strong. For those reasons, she decided not to train Phillis as a domestic servant. Instead, she assigned her daughter, Mary, to tutor and encourage a young Phillis in her studies.
With Mary's help, Phillis learned how to read, write, and understand English within 16 months of her arrival. By age 12, she was reading difficult Bible passages, British literature, Latin and Greek classics, and soon after began to write poetry. Such abilities were incredible for any child her age and unheard of for a female, or slave.
Although Northern colonists were more likely to treat their slaves with humane respect, unlike their Southern counterparts, they had not progressed enough to want to publish Phillis's first book of poems. Susannah, however, took matters into her own hands. She sought out a London publisher, and in 1773, Poems on Various Subjects appeared in print. The event made Phillis the first African-American, the first slave, and the third woman in the United States to publish a volume of poetry. She was celebrated in England, but soon returned home to be with Susannah who was very ill.
Later that year, Susannah died and John Wheatley emancipated Phillis, who was then 20. It was Susannah's dying wish, as a humble Christian woman, that Phillis write nothing after her death about the good services she had provided for the poet. Phillis honored this wish, but in a letter to General David Wooster, wrote, "my Master has, at the desire of my friends in England, given me my freedom."
As a free woman, Phillis continued to write letters and poems, which were praised by such distinguished people as George Washington and Voltaire. Her poetry was well received, but it was rarely personal due to the Puritan life of her wealthy Boston family. Another result of this upbringing was that, despite her remarkable talents, Phillis was very modest and retained an air of humility throughout her life.
Although the Wheatleys always encouraged Phillis, she was not allowed to fraternize with the other slaves or servants. The social customs of the time also did not permit her to sit at the dinner table with the Wheatleys. And while she was celebrated for her literary achievements, once emancipated, Phillis no longer enjoyed the Wheatleys' financial support, nor did she have the ability to support herself.
In 1778, Phillis married a free black man named John Peters, after which she published three subsequent poems. Once married, Phillis relied on her husband's earnings to sustain them. Peters dabbled in various businesses, but often turned down jobs that he considered beneath him, in contrast with his wife's humble nature. Though Phillis sought a publisher for a second book of poems, she was unsuccessful as the city struggled to recover from the war. And, without the means to be published, Phillis returned to work as a servant to earn money.
Phillis spent the end of her life in a boarding house and died in 1784, at the age of 31. Her final poem, Liberty and Peace, was published just weeks after her death. The manuscript for her second book of poetry, however, was never found.
Although penniless at the end of her short life, Phillis Wheatley changed history despite her racial and ethnic background. She broke literary ground for both her gender and race, and never let her circumstances or early experiences define her. She died humble, accomplished and most importantly, free.
Sources: Odell, Margaretta Matilda. "Memoir." Memoir and Poems of Phillis Wheatley. Boston: Geo. W. Light, 1834. 20 Sep. 2003. http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/wheatley/wheatley.html.
Richmond, Merle A. "Phillis Wheatley." Biography. Chelsea House Publishers, 1988. www.pbs.org
Library of Congress. http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/jb/revolut/poetslav_2
5. David Richardson, "The Costs of Survival: The Treatment of Slaves in the Middle Passage and the Profitability of the Eighteenth-Century British Slave Trade," Sege Daget (ed.), De La Traite A L'Esclavage: Actes du Colloque international sur la traite des Noires, Nantes 1985, (Nantes: Centre de Recherche Sur L'Histoire Du Monde Atlantique, 1988), 170.
6. Letter from Phillis Wheatley to David Wooster, 18 October 1773, from the Hugh Upham Clark collection.
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