Examples Of On Being Brought From Africa To America

Slavery was not something the African-American’s took very kindly. In fact, a considerable amount of slaves would have rather taken their lives instead of being forced into slavery. For Phillis Wheatley though, slavery was something she was grateful for. Wheatley wasn’t your typical slave. Instead, she was very sophisticated and believed slavery was not a bad thing and it was God’s providence to protect his followers. One of Wheatley’s most famous poems, “On Being Brought from Africa to America” includes a few examples of God’s providence in it, including her experience being brought out of slavery. Many would think that Wheatley was not brought out of slavery, but rather into slavery. Which is how this poem really brings out her views on how God has a plan for everyone. Wheatley used this poem to introduce her faith in God and describe how He guided her towards Him and brought her to America to reach spiritual and physical salvation. In lines 2-4 she talks about how coming to America enlightened her peace through Christianity, “Taught my benighted soul to understand / that there’s a God, that there’s a Savior too: / Once I redemption neither sought nor knew.” (403). In the last two lines of the

According to Women’s History Expert, Jone Johnson Lewis, describes that Wheatley’s poems “do not refer to her condition of servitude”. Could this be because of the audience of her writings? Or because she could not express herself freely? According to one of Wheatley’s readings “Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral” she states, “Pampered in the household of prominent Boston commercialist John Wheatley” (354). With this explanation she indicates that the household where she was enslaved, kindness and comfort were present throughout her time. Pampered in her household, Wheatley must have felt obligated to intervene with slavery. The only way she could do this though, was