In seven pages this paper presents the argument that this poem lauds slavery for civilizing the savage through the introduction of Christianity. Five other sources are cited in the bibliography.
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and one man, John Wheatley of Boston, bought her for his wife. Phyllis was apparently loved and cared for and taught to read and write, even becoming familiar with "Latin,
Greek, the Bible, and selected classics at an early age. She began writing poetry at thirteen, modeling her work on the English poets of the time, particularly John Milton, Thomas
Gray, and Alexander Pope" (Phillis Wheatley). From this we can see that she was, by no means, a typical slave. In fact, at one point Mr. Wheatley even took
her to London on the doctors advice that a sea voyage may improve her poor health in 1771 (Phillis Wheatley). In these respects her experiences and her life was not
that of a typical slave as she was loved and cared for and, perhaps most importantly, respected. As such we note, in her most famous poem "On Being Brought From
Africa to America," that her experiences gave a different perspective to slavery, arguing that slavery was a good thing which introduced the salvation offered by Christianity. In the following paper
we examine her poem and illustrate how her poem gives a very false picture of slavery, offering us an ignorant womans view. It should be noted that we are not
arguing that Wheatley was not intelligent, for she was. We are merely arguing that her ignorance of the true realities of slavery kept her from seeing that Christianity was only
a way by which slaves were, in one way, controlled. It should also be noted that the poem cannot really be analyzed without brining into play the experiences of Wheatley
for it is a poem about her and her beliefs. The Poem Phyllis poem is one that begins with the clear understanding that her life in Africa was