Phillis Wheatley, America's First Black Poet

Phillis Wheatley, America's First Black Poet

Phillis Wheatley, America's First Black Poet
Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 5 to 7
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	7.9

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		genre, lasting, poet, forbidden, literature, writing, colonial, slavery, refused, meaning, poetry, legacy, particularly, intelligent, arrival, education
	content words:		Phillis Wheatley, Susannah Wheatley, But Susannah Wheatley, Newport Mercury, George Whitefield, Various Subjects, In England, General George Washington, African Americans, African American

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Phillis Wheatley, America's First Black Poet
By Joyce Furstenau

¹     Phillis Wheatley was America's first black poet. She was born in Africa. She was brought to America in 1761 and sold into slavery at the age of seven. She was sold to John and Susannah Wheatley of Boston for a few dollars. She became their servant. They named her Phillis.

²     Susannah noticed how quickly the seven-year-old slave girl picked up the English language. Phillis used charcoal to try to write letters, too. It was clear to Susannah that Phillis was very intelligent.

³     At that time it was forbidden to teach a black person to read or write. But Susannah Wheatley made a decision. She decided to give Phillis the opportunity to learn to read and write.

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