“The same principle lives in us all.” — Phillis Wheatley | V2Melody

“The same principle lives in us all.”

Emphasising the shared humanity underlying the struggle for liberty · Letter to Samson Occom, 1774

Phillis Wheatley

About Phillis Wheatley

Phillis Wheatley

c. 1753–5 December 1784

In the autumn of 1773, a slender volume of poetry emerged from a London printing house that would forever alter the landscape of American literature. "Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral" bore the name of its author on the title page: Phillis Wheatley, Negro Servant to Mr. John Wheatley of Boston. This…

More by Phillis Wheatley

Poems by Phillis Wheatley

More remarks by Phillis Wheatley

“That it was not the small-pox that brought me to America, but I was brought from Africa to America.”

Recalling the circumstances of her enslavement with directness and moral force · Letter to Samson Occom, 1774

“It is not impossible that some of the most learned and polished nations of the world may be found to have sprung from Africa.”

Challenging racist assumptions about African civilisation and intellectual achievement · Letter to Samson Occom, 1774

“In every human Breast, God has implanted a Principle, which we call Love of Freedom; it is impatient of Oppression, and pants for Deliverance.”

Asserting that the desire for freedom is universal and divinely implanted · Letter to Samson Occom, 1774