History from the Eyes of a Woman

History is not the province of the Ladies
~ John Adams
(Sigerman, 1995, p. 169).

         If courage was a person, it would be Phyllis Wheatley. In the eighteenth century, the point of view held by John Adams was a common point of view among white men. Women were not formerly educated, but many learned to read and write. Slaves were not permitted to learn to read or write. Regardless of the common point of view among white men and the struggle to overcome the bounds of the society, brave women, both free and slave, made history their province. Phyllis Wheatley is one such woman. She was a black slave who stamped history with her views of equality regardless of color, race, or gender, with her views of freedom for slaves and for America, and with her views of equal education, through the use of poetry. In a time when women were not in the forefront of history, Phyllis Wheatley stepped forward and engraved her soul in American history by leaving a dream of the America she envisioned.

         Born in Africa, Phyllis Wheatley was sold as a black slave to John Wheatley of Boston. She believed that she was privileged to have the chance to learn to read and write, as well as learn about the love of Jesus. Fortunate to have the chance to be educated, Wheatley learned not only to read and write, but also learned literature, Latin, and the Bible (Library of Congress: Today in History: September 1). She used the knowledge so few women, and no other slaves possessed, to express her views of faith, equality and freedom in the form of poetry. In the poem, in The Norton Anthology of American Literature (Baym, 2008), “’Twas mercy brought me from my pagan land, Taught my benighted soul to understand…” (1-2) she expressed her gratitude for the education she received through the Wheatley family. By using the words “benighted” followed by “understand”, she exemplifies the change in her soul from one of uneducated status, to awareness. In her poem, in The Norton Anthology of American Literature (Baym, 2008), On Being Brought from Africa to America, she expresses her desire for education for all black people. In the poem, she writes, “Remember, Christians, Negroes, black as Cain, May be refined, and join the angelic train” (6-7). She wanted others to have this opportunity by articulating that she was not the exception in the black race, but that all slaves possess the capability of achieving the same educational status that she acquired. Her cry for equal education helped to pave the way for future generations to one day see the fruits of her vision.

         Phyllis Wheatley’s view of equality was undoubtedly the result of her circumstances and education. Though she was kept separate from other slaves (Simkin, 1997), Phyllis Wheatley was not immune to the fact that she was a black slave. She also was not blind to the inequality her race faced. In her poem published in the Norton Anthology of American Literature (Baym, 2008), On Being Brought from Africa to America, she acknowledge that “Some view our sable race with scornful eye,” (4) proving her understanding of the fact that she was a slave. She continues in the poem to challenge this view of black people as more than savages, and introduces the idea that “Negroes…May be refined, and join the angelic train” (6-7). This introduction of equality is seen also in many of her other poems. In her poem To the University of Cambridge, in New England (Baym, 2008), she asks the students of Cambridge to grow beyond their parent’s narrow mind and embrace equality of the races. She challenges the idea that slaves are the only ones full of sin by saying Jesus died for all mankind “When the whole human race by sin had fall’n.” The words, “whole” and “human race,” are not inserted in this poem unintentionally. She is reminding the next generation of leaders to stop looking at black people as slaves but rather as equals in the “human race.”

         Phyllis Wheatley also reinforced that she understood the way her race was regarded by the way she set apart herself when she attended a dinner to honor her poetry.

Whenever she was invited to the houses of individuals of wealth and distinction, (which frequently happened,) she always declined the seat offered her at their board, and, requesting that a side-table might be laid for her, dined modestly apart from the rest of the company (Simkin, 1997).

By separating herself from the company of the wealthy, she forced the realization that even though she was regarded highly; overall, her race was regarded as unequal. This act must have caused those who honored her to feel embarrassed by their race’s prejudices.

         Phyllis Wheatley’s idea of America did not stop with equality of education and freedom from racial prejudices, but she pictured an America that was free from all oppression. Her poems also addressed this love of freedom. The year she was manumitted, she wrote of freedom. She considered freedom as a natural emotion. In her poem published in the Norton Anthology of American Literature (Baym, 2008), To the Right Honorable William, Earl of Dartmouth, His Majesty’s Principal Secretary of State for North America, &c., she expresses her desire for America “No longer shalt though dread the iron chain, Which wanton Tyranny with lawless hand Had made, and with it meant t’ enslave the land” (17-19). She articulates the oppression felt by America in the hands of England. Her desire mimics the desire of the country at the time until it is achieved just a few years later. Her desire for freedom for America she parallels her desire for freedom for all slaves. In the same poem, she pens, “Should you, my lord, while you peruse my song, Wonder from where my love of Freedom sprung, Whence flow these wishes for the common good…” (Baym, 2008, 20-23). Her love for freedom, she continues to explain, is born from her loss of family and sold into slavery because of having been born in Africa. She prays, because of this heart wrenching experience, no one will ever have to be subject to oppression. This was her vision for a free America.

         If courage was a person, it would be Phyllis Wheatley. Phyllis Wheatley, though faced with countless oppressions, not only endured, but overstepped the bounds of her repression onto the pages of history. She was not too craven to learn to read, write, and study literature, Latin, and the Bible. She was brave enough to pen her belief in Jesus, education, equality, and freedom. She was daring enough to live her beliefs as well. Phyllis Wheatley dared to challenge future generations with her ideas and beliefs. She wisely and discretely reminded the affluent of the prejudices that haunted the nation. In a time when women were not in the forefront of history, Phyllis Wheatley stepped forward and engraved her soul in the very fabric of American history.

References

Library of Congress. (n.d.). Today in history: September 1. Phyllis Wheatley. Retrieved April 30, 2010 from, http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/sep01.html

Sigerman, H. (1995). Biographical supplement and index: The young oxford history of women in the United States (Vol. 11). Oxford University Press: Oxford, NY.

Simkin, J. (1997). Spartacus educational. Retrieved April 30, 2010 from, http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USASwheatley.html

Wheatley, P. (1773). The poems of Phyllis Wheatley. In N. Baym (Ed.), The Norton Anthology American Literature. (Seventh Ed. Pp. 419-429). W. W. Norton & Company, Inc: New York.