The Trials of Phillis Wheatley [electronic resource] : America's First Black Poet and Her Encounters with the Founding Fathers
Gates, Henry Louis,Jr.
Washington : Basic Books,
2009.
In 1773, the slave Phillis Wheatley literally wrote her way to freedom. The first person of African descent to publish a book of poems in English, she was emancipated by her owners in recognition of her literary achievement. For a time, Wheatley was the most famous black woman in the West. But Thomas Jefferson, unlike his contemporaries Ben Franklin and George Washington, refused to acknowledge her gifts as a writer--a repudiation that eventually inspired generations of black writers to build an extraordinary body of literature in their efforts to prove him wrong.
Description based upon print version of record.
Acknowledgments; Preface; The Trials of Phillis Wheatley; Bibliography; Index
In 1773, the slave Phillis Wheatley literally wrote her way to freedom. The first person of African descent to publish a book of poems in English, she was emancipated by her owners in recognition of her literary achievement. For a time, Wheatley was the most famous black woman in the West. But Thomas Jefferson, unlike his contemporaries Ben Franklin and George Washington, refused to acknowledge her gifts as a writer--a repudiation that eventually inspired generations of black writers to build an extraordinary body of literature in their efforts to prove him wrong.
Wheatley, Phillis, 1753-1784.
Poets, American
Women slaves
African American poets