Miss Phillis Wheatley supports General George Washington

Today’s subject is Miss Phillis Wheatley. Taken from her home in Africa and sold as a slave aboard a ship named Phillis, she was sold to John Wheatley as a servant for his wife. Her intelligence was evident and she was educated by the Wheatley family that owned her.

That education was unheard of for a woman, let alone an African slave. Phillis is credited with being the first African American published in Europe in 1773.

phillis-wheatley-600x600jpg

In a communication to General George Washington, she wrote, “Proceed, great chief, with virtue on thy side. Thy every action let the goddess guide.”

While slaves of the time were being offered freedom by the British in exchange for loyalty to the British crown, Miss Wheatley displayed her support for the Continental Army. Her support earned her an invitation from General Washington to visit General Washington at his headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Her patriotic writings, in later times, were not held with the same enthusiasm. Phillis Wheatley died in her early 30s in Boston, Massachusetts, on December 5, 1784.