I started some of the break reading, since i don't want a ton of homework for break and i really enjoyed Phillis Wheatley!
I found her back round information really interesting. Phillis Wheatley was a slave child for about
seven years to John and Susana Wheatley in Boston. On the website http://www.lkwdpl.org/wihohio/whea-phi.htm I discovered that her name came from the ship that carried her to America called the Philis. Something different about Phillis Wheatley's slavery is that she was given an education and encouraged by the family to write. By the age of 12 she had written her first poem and later in her life was sent to England with Susana and Johns son to produce poems.
On October 18, 1773 Phillis was freed due to her popularity in the U.S. and England. She then married a free black man named John Peters, I wonder why she inst referred to as Phillis Peters? It was also sad to discover that she had three children and all of them died in infancy.
Phillis is most known for:
- Being the first African American to publish a book
- Being the first African
American woman to earn a living from her writing
- First woman
writer encouraged and financed by a group of women
(as stated in the article mentioned above)
Wow, that's really interesting! I haven't done the reading yet, although I'm planning on doing it before break, but now I'm excited for it. It's very unique and amazing that her masters educated her, treated her so nicely and encouraged her to write. So many slaves were abused, taken advantadge of sexually, and seen as property (because they technically were), so it is refreshing to see that that was not always the case. I'm glad that she was able to become so successful because it shows that anything is possible if you work hard, even if you come from challanging circumstances. I'm happy that she was able to get married, but I agree that it is weird that she didn't keep her last name. Maybe she kept is because she was already well known as a writer by the name of Phyllis Wheatly? Sometimes it can be difficult for people who are famous to make that transition. I wonder if we could find the answer or if it would be hard because it was so long ago. Also, it is so sad that her chidren died. I wonder how that affected her writing or who she was as a person.
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