Alexandria Kannel
ENH241
A Walk to Freedom

“Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have the exact measure of the injustice and wrong which will be imposed on them” (Frederick Douglass).
Slavery in America began almost as soon as the colonists decided work was too hard for them. As early as 1619 in Jamestown, Virginia there is record of the first Africans being brought to America. They were free people living in their own country uprooted because somebody thought they had more power over these people’s lives. This form of buying and trading people continued for over two-hundred years; in which time America was actually made a country and the Africans were forced to fight for us against England in a war that was not even their own. Finally, almost a hundred years later there was another war against our own country that could have torn this country in two and an amendment was added to abolish slavery. Although, the Africans still had no rights as people in this country they could no longer be owned. During this period of time when they were fighting for their right to be a free people there were many great writings published from those slaves who were lucky enough to learn to read and write. Harriet Beecher Stowe, Frederick Douglass, and Phillis Wheatley are some well known authors from the high points of the era of Slavery and the Civil War. (Sylvester).
The colonists had already begun diversifying America without even meaning to. “The first federal census, conducted in 1790, found that a fifth of the entire population was African” (Colonial). The colonists were helping to shape America into the diverse country known today just by bringing the slaves over. The colonists themselves were not all English as well. They ranged in backgrounds all over Europe however they saw themselves to be more perfect then the Africans they brought over for slaves or Native Americans that ran unruly living in camps rather then homes; so these are the people they forced to do their bidding.
Phillis Wheatley was brought to America when she was just seven years old from somewhere along the Gambia River region in West Africa. She was given her name because the boat she traveled on was called Phillis. A wealthy family the Wheatly’s, bought her. By the time she was nine years old she had learn to read and write English, and learned Latin. This was highly unusual for a slave but she was determined. (O’Neale).
She became the first published African writer. Her poetry revolved around many Christian ideas and also involved famous people. At one point she was asked to recite a poem after the declaration of independence was signed for George Washington himself. (O’Neale). Phillis Wheatley does an interesting job of unifying the idea of diversity in her poem On Being Brought from Africa to America. In the line “Remember, Christians, Negroes, black as Cain may be refin’d, and join th’ Angelic train” (Boss). Here she identifies herself first and foremost as a Christian, which is an interesting point of view for an African American of this time period to take, they would normally identify with their culture first. However, possibly because of her more educated background she thinks of herself on a higher standard then other Blacks of this time. Also at the beginning of this poem she repeats this idea of being thankful for being taken to America, in the line, “Twas mercy that brought me from my Pagan land,” (Boss). So perhaps somewhere the white people have instilled in her the idea that the place she came from was not an acceptable place to live, and only in accepting the Christian ideology like them will she be saved, and possibly be redeemed and accepted in the society that she now lives in.
Another interesting point about this poem is the word choice she uses to convey her ideas. It goes hand in hand with the tone and style of writing set through out the poem. Although, the words were not as classically butchered as one might see of a lower uneducated Black citizen. In fact what is interesting is her writing style incorporates that of a high end upper white class education. As seen in the line, “Taught my benighted soul to understand that there’s a God, that there’s a Saviour too,” (Boss). At the time most writing seen by African Americans would have been in a choppy dialectical speak; hers however was worthy enough of praise by George Washington himself.
Phillis Wheatley was an African American who as writer could motivate the people of her time, that slavery wasn’t the end for them. With her writings they could gain confidence that in time moving towards freedom; maybe they could all become an educated people like Phillis Wheatley. They were a large quantity of the population, all they had to do was continue to make their voices heard through literature, like that of Phillis Wheatley and Frederick Douglass. Hopefully letting the masses know that they were still there and not going away.