Custodes Futurifor the advancement of humanity

Pioneer 20 of 21 · c. 1753-1784

Phillis Wheatley

Contribution. The first African American author to publish a full-length book of poetry, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral (London, 1773). Jupiter Hammon had published a single poem in 1761. Abolitionists cited her work as evidence of the intellectual abilities of Black people.

Factor coverage

Favorable entries (helped or barrier absent) and adverse entries (barrier or not overcome) by factor. Factor tags are this site's classification.

Biological00Psychological00Economic11Societal04Cultural02Social21Environmental00Educational10Technological00

Barriers faced

FactorsStatement
Societal SocialShe was taken from West Africa and arrived in Boston on the slave ship Phillis in 1761, aged about seven. Her real name is unknown.
Cultural SocietalMany colonists refused to believe that an enslaved African girl could have written the poems. Susanna Wheatley sent her to London because she judged the chances of finding a publisher were better there than in Massachusetts.
Cultural SocietalHer publisher required an attestation of authorship. It was signed by 18 prominent Bostonians, including John Hancock, and printed at the front of the book. Whether she faced an in-person examination is debated. Her biographer Vincent Carretta suspects the signers knew her socially.

What helped

FactorsStatement
Educational SocialEducation at home. The Wheatley family taught her to read and write.
Economic SocialA patron. Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon, helped pay for the book's publication.

Not overcome

FactorsStatement
Economic SocietalAfter her owners' deaths she struggled to support herself. She married John Peters in 1778, lost two children in infancy, and died in poverty on 5 December 1784, aged about 31.

Pattern summary

ElementIn this case
Door-openerWheatley family, Countess of Huntingdon
Institutional supportLondon publisher
Setback overcomeEnslavement, doubted authorship
Barrier not overcomePoverty, early death
Related barriersRacial discrimination, poverty

Sources

  1. Wheatley, P. (1773). Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral. London: A. Bell. Women Writers Project, Northeastern University
  2. Society of Early Americanists: Phillis Wheatley Peters, a chronology
  3. National Constitution Center: Constitutional Voices, Phillis Wheatley
  4. University of Utah Marriott Library: Poems on Various Subjects (book of the week)
  5. Mark, J. J. (2025). Phillis Wheatley. World History Encyclopedia

Also relevant: Bell, A., Chetty, R., Jaravel, X., Petkova, N., & Van Reenen, J. (2019). Who becomes an inventor in America? Quarterly Journal of Economics, 134(2), 647-713. All references