The Beginning of African American Literature

Phillis Wheatley was an essential woman writer to the genre of African American literature. She was forced into slavery at the age of seven years old and sold to the Wheatley family of Boston. This family was instrumental in teaching her how to read and write and encouraging her to advance with her poetry. I cannot attribute her works and skill to the white family that held her as a slave when she ought to have a great life back in her homeland. The slave system was messed up beyond belief and nothing, but pain, can be attributed to it.

It is clear that her poetry stemmed from her twisted life as a slave and it is incredibly important to the genre of African American lit even becoming a thing. Her skill and ability gave her the freedom her soul craved and gave her a way to live. She was incredibly popular and eventually respected (after she was given her freedom) for the works her family published. Some of her poems even give a postive spin on what was the worst thing someone could experience. In her poem "On Being Brought From Africa to America", she claims that mercy is what brought her to America and taught her the white culture, religion, and way of speaking. She speaks very clearly and tells the world that even the africans have a spot on the "angelic train" that travels to the eternal land of heaven. She was an incredible woman with a strong voice that played her position in a way that allowed her to create the largest amount of success possible.