Phillis Wheatley Research Paper

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Phillis Wheatley was an African slave who was brought over to America during the 1700’s. She lived with the Wheatley family, who taught her something that most slaves did not know how to do and that was to read and write. Because of this, Wheatley was able to write several poems, which in some way encompass her life as a slave. Through her poems, it is hard to get a good idea on where she stands on slavery, but as you read closer in, it is easier to understand. She tends to cover up her views of slavery by praising the fact that slavery brought her closer to God and that all people, not matter where they are from, are deserving of knowing God. Living with the Wheatley family allowed Phillis to learn to read and write, as well as learn history and Latin. She was brought to the family by the head, John Wheatley, to be a companion to his wife, Susanna. It is their daughter, Mary, who taught Wheatley. She began writing poems at the age of 14. Wheatley did not live with the other slaves, and was instead treated more like a member of the family and not like a slave. But she still knew her place in society. She knew that she did not fit in with neither the whites or with the slaves. She also refused to forget her past and succumb to the new life of culture the Wheatley family tried to force…show more content…
She wants to remind her readers that they are not to look at slaves with a “scornful eye” (Wheatley Being Brought). She also reminds them of the ultimate goal, and that is having a place on the “angelic train” (Wheatley Being Brought). She claims that one of the ways to get on this ‘train’ is to have lived a Godly live full of good deeds. If they choose not to live this life, their soul might turn “black as Cain” (Wheatley Being Brought), even if the soul was to belong to a white man. So it would be possible for an African slave to join the “angelic train”, as long as they lived the Godly life

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