From Phillis Wheatley's On Being Brought From Africa To America

Before slavery was abolished it was uncommon for African-Americans to read and write, much less for a slave to become a published writer. It was even more uncommon for the writer to be female. But neither of those things stopped Phillis Wheatley. Wheatley is born a slave in Africa and brought over on a ship called the Phillis which is her namesake. She is also given her slave owners’ last name. The Wheatley’s are good people and give Phillis an education which is almost unheard of because she is a female slave. She quickly learns English and begins writing. In her poem, “On Being Brought from Africa to America,” Wheatley says, “‘Twas mercy brought me from my pagan land” and this line tells the reader that the author knows that she is blessed when she is brought over to become as a slave (1).

After being brought to America she comes to know the Lord and realizes that she is blessed because before she was brought to America she had not been saved and did not even know she needed to be saved. Wheatley is one of a very few slaves who share the sentiments about feeling lucky to become a slave. It is uncommon that a person hears of a slave professing gratitude for being

Green states that, “On the sugar, cotton, and tobacco plantations of the south, slaves worked from dawn to sunset.” She goes on to tell of how most owners of plantations never work in the fields beside the slaves but that the master hired people to oversee the slaves. If a slave balks at work or is disobedient then that slave is whipped and frequently dies from injuries sustained (Green 16). Medical care for slaves was non-existent and when a person is beat using a whip it leaves bloody welts that often become infected. Without antibiotics, an infection can get into the bloodstream and kill a person. While whips leave horrible scars and can kill a person, they were not the only way that slaves were