America's first black poet and her encounters with the founding fathers
Gates, Henry Louis
2003
Explores the roles of Phillis Wheatley and Thomas Jefferson in shaping African-American literary tradition, discussing how Phillis gained acceptance and freedom by being the first person of African descent to publish a book of poems in the English language in 1773. Discusses the effects of Jefferson's harsh criticism of the poet and her race.
A brief look at the life and times of Phillis Wheatley, who is bought as a slave by a wealthy Boston family, is taught to read and write, and becomes colonial America's first African-American poet.
Examines the life of Phillis Wheatley, discussing how she came to America as a slave in 1761, her education in reading and writing by her owners, her interest in the Bible, and her struggles to be recognized as a poet.
Follows the life of one of America's first African American poets from her sale as a child slave on the Boston auction block to her death as an impoverished freedwoman in 1784.