David Stephens

Phillis Wheatley, like so many African Americans of her time, was taken from her home and family and sold into a life of slavery. While that is never a good thing regardless of which owners possession they end up in, Phillis Wheatley undoubtedly had a lucky break. Her owners quickly picked up on her intelligence and even paid for her to be able to foster her sharp intellect. This would eventually lead to Phillis becoming an undeniable success in the writing world of America and England. She enjoyed notable fame and recognition, something that was very uncommon for a woman of the time and basically none existent for African-Americans. She later got married, and had three children, though sadly two of them died when she was just 31 and living in poverty. Her ending may be sad, but she got to live an elegant life given her position and period of time in which she lived and helped to put Women and African-Americans on the map as more than just “helpers and things”.