Only recently, critics have stopped judging Phillis’s works in light of what they could or should have been, and have taken them for what they are and what they represented during her time. What Phillis’s modern critics often fail to see is that the gospel was an integral part of her thoughts. She was, first of all, a Christian.

Whatever moved the Wheatleys to buy the little slave that had just arrived from Africa, it was not her physical strength. Frightened and skinny, with two missing teeth, she looked sickly and frail. Susanna Wheatley’s decision of picking this instead of stronger girls might have been caused by the fact that this little one was seven years old, almost the same age as the last of the Wheatleys’ children, Sarah, at the time of her death. They called this new slave Phillis, the name of the ship that had taken her and the other slaves to America.

An Impressive Mind

Susanna Wheatley wanted to raise Phillis to become her helper in her old age. After a few days, she became impressed by the girl’s quick mind. It was a common notion that people from the area around Gambia and Senegal, where Phillis was probably born, were physically small but mentally sharp.

John Wheatley was a prosperous merchant in Boston. He owned a large home and other slaves that cared for the family and the property. Besides Sarah, the Wheatley had lost two other children. Their oldest twins, Nathaniel and Mary, were eighteen at that time and lived at home.

Mary was probably the main person responsible for giving Phillis an excellent education. According to John Wheatley, within sixteen months, Phillis learned to understand English well enough to read even the toughest portions of the Bible. She later studied literature, history, geography, and Latin. Her favorite poets were John Milton and Alexander Pope

As members of the New South Congregational Church, the Wheatleys instructed Phillis in the Christian faith. Both of these academic and religious efforts were unique among slaveholders.

We don’t know how early Phillis began writing. Her first known letter was written in 1765, just four years after her arrival in America. It was addressed to Samuel Occom, a friend of the Wheatleys, who was involved in missionary work to his fellow Native Americans. Her first published poem, “On Messrs. Hussey and Coffin,” appeared in 1767 in the Newport Mercury. But the poem that made her famous was one she wrote on the sudden death of the famous preacher George Whitefield. She addressed it to Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntington (who was a correspondent of Susanna Wheatley).

In this poem, 14-year old Phillis affirmed that the gospel was for all human beings, Africans included.

Take Him, ye Africans, He longs for you,

Impartial Savior is His title due:

Washed in the fountain of redeeming blood,

You shall be sons, and kings, and priests to God.[1]

Phillis on Trial

By 1772, Phillis had written enough poems to be able to collect them in a book. But finding a publisher was not an easy task. When those in Boston refused to take on the project, Susanna Wheatley contacted one in London. He agreed to do it, providing that some reputable men of Boston could vouch that Phillis was the author of the poems.

John Wheatley arranged for a meeting of some of the brightest minds in the city, including Thomas Hutchinson, governor of Massachusetts, James Bowdoin, John Hancock, the Rev. Samuel Cotton, the Rev. Mather Byles, and the Rev. Samuel Cooper. Many of these men were Harvard graduates, and many were poets. Phillis was brought before them to be examined.

The reason why such a trial was necessary was that many white people found it difficult to believe that Africans could write poetry – or make any relevant contribution to the fine arts or human knowledge.

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