Phillis Wheatley: The unsung Black poet who shaped the US

Phillis Wheatley, a significant Black poet, played a crucial role in shaping the United States. She holds the distinction of being the first enslaved individual and the first African American to publish a book of poetry. Her work compelled the US to confront the hypocrisy of slavery. On November 28, 1773, a ship named the Dartmouth arrived in Boston Harbor. It was laden with 114 chests of tea from the British East India Company. This tea would later become a central part of the Boston Tea Party, a pivotal act of resistance by the American colonists against British taxation, which precipitated the Revolutionary War. However, the Dartmouth also carried another valuable cargo: freshly printed copies of 'Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral,' a collection of poetry by Phillis Wheatley.

Phillis Wheatley was the first enslaved individual, the first African American woman, and the third woman in the US colonies to publish a book of poetry. Her life and work have become emblematic of the US struggle for freedom. The Boston Tea Party, a significant event in US history, will commemorate its 250th anniversary on December 16 this year. Evan O'Brien, the creative manager of the Boston Tea Party & Ships Museum, emphasized their mission to highlight not just the individuals who participated in the Boston Tea Party, but everyone who resided in Boston in 1773, including Phillis Wheatley.

Phillis Wheatley was born in what is now either Senegal or Gambia. She was abducted in 1761 when she was merely seven or eight years old. She was forced onto a slave-trading ship named Phillis, along with 94 other Africans. The journey, known as the Middle Passage, was perilous and claimed the lives of nearly two million enslaved individuals. Despite the odds, Phillis survived and arrived on Boston's shores that summer. She was purchased by a wealthy merchant named John Wheatley, who gifted her to his wife, Susanna. They named her Phillis after the ship that had transported her away from her homeland. Phillis demonstrated a natural aptitude for language and quickly became fluent in English. She also studied Latin, Greek, history, theology, and poetry. She penned her first verse at the age of 13. However, no American printer was willing to publish a book by a Black writer. Consequently, Phillis's book was published in London, financed by Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon. Phillis's fame in London, coupled with England's criticism of a nation that subjugated her while comparing its own relationship to the Crown as slavery, led to her manumission in 1774.