World Changing Women, Day 6

Powerful Pen

Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784)

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

Galatians 6:9

A slave ship bound for America held hundreds of African slaves below deck. Among them was the skinny, sickly, seven year old girl, torn from her family and tribe, named Phillis Wheatley. She was bought by a wealthy Boston couple, Susanna, and John Wheatley, who took pity on her because of her frailty and the fact that she couldn't speak English. The oldest Wheatley daughter taught Phillis the alphabet and when she picked it up quickly, the Wheatley family began to teach her Latin, English, history, geography, and astronomy. By the time Phillis was ten, she could read the Bible fluently. She accepted Christ when she was a teenager, but when going to church, she had to endure hardship and unfair treatment like sitting in pews reserved only for slaves. Her favorite pastime was writing poems, and in 1770, she wrote a poem about the death of the popular evangelist, George Whitefield. Phillis became famous for the poem, which led her to write another poem, praising General George Washington. The next year, Phillis encouraged him to free all the slaves after the American Revolution.

Her poems were published in England by a sympathetic countess, making Phillis the first American slave to have a book published. Her fame spread. 

Phillis was set free when Mr. Wheatley died, and soon after met and married John Peters. She died at the age of thirty, after a difficult childbirth. 

Her powerful poetry is still being read and studied today.