1. Philis wheatly
By: mikayla hammonds

2. What is this person known for
In 1761 Phillis was purchased as a personal slave in Boston by Susannah Wheatley, wife of tailor John Wheatley. She was evidently around 7 years old at the time. Her only written memory of her birthplace was of her mother performing a ritual of pouring water before the sun as it rose; biographers conjecture she came from Senegal/Gambia and may have been a Fula, a Moslem people who read Arabic script. Very likely she was kidnapped into slavery and brought on a slaving vessel on the Middle Passage.

3. Was this person known for any other events?
She learned to speak and write English very quickly, taught by Mary Wheatley, the 18 year old daughter of her owner; within 16 months she could read difficult passages in the Bible. At 12 she began studying Latin and English literature, especially the poetry of Alexander Pope, soon translating Ovid into heroic couplets. These would have been remarkable accomplishments for an educated white male boy, and was virtually unheard of for white females. She may well have read Anne Bradstreet's poetry. The Wheatley’s appreciated her talents, and showed her off to their friends; many came to visit with this "lively and brilliant conversationalist." She was thoroughly indoctrinated into Puritanism. 

4. What was this person’s family like?
DATE OF BIRTH: c. 1753
DATE OF DEATH: December, 1784
PLACE OF DEATH: Boston, Massachusetts as a result of childbirth
Her husband John Peters was imprisoned for debt in 1784, leaving an impoverished Wheatley with a sickly infant son. She went to work as a scullery maid at a boarding house to support them. Life had forced her into a kind of domestic labor that she had been free of while enslaved. Wheatley died on December 5, 1784, at age 31. Her infant son died three and a half hours after her death.
john peters

5. What did philis accomplish in her liftime?
In 1768, Wheatley wrote "To the King's Most Excellent Majesty," in which she praised George III for repealing the Stamp Act.[2] As the American Revolution gained strength, Wheatley's writing turned to themes that expressed ideas of the rebellious colonists.
John Wheatley's grave in Granary Burying Ground. Phillis Wheatley's grave is unmarkedIn 1770 Wheatley wrote a poetic tribute to the evangelist George Whitefield, which received widespread acclaim. Her poetry expressed Christian themes, and many poems were dedicated to famous figures. Over one-third consist of elegies, the remainder being on religious, classical, and abstract themes.[7] She seldom referred to her own life in her poems. One example of a poem on slavery is "On being brought from Africa to America":
On Being Brought from Africa to America
by Phillis Wheatley
'Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land,
Taught my benighted soul to understand
That there's a God, that there's a Saviour too:
Once I redemption neither sought nor knew.
Some view our sable race with scornful eye,
"Their colour is a diabolic die."
Remember, Christians, Negros, black as Cain,
May be refin'd and join th'angelic train.

6. What is she remembered for today?
Her great peoms