Wheatley's Progressivism Anonymous College

The 18th Century presented many challenges to African Americans, even those who were free from the horrors of slavery. Many African Americans struggled to find a public voice that the general (white) population would be willing to listen to. Phillis Wheatley was given a rare opportunity for an African American. Despite being kidnapped from Africa to be sold at a young age, she was well educated and became a popular poet, even among the white population. Even so, Wheatley could not be too radical or she would lose her audience; however, upon a close reading of many of her works, and specifically To the Right Honorable William, Earl of Dartmouth Wheatley includes many subtle references to the evils racial inequality and she alludes to many progressive ideas, such as abolitionism and racial equality.

Wheatley’s forthright purpose in writing To the Right Honorable William, Earl of Dartmouth is to praise the Earl. The poem seems to be exclusively about the Earl and America’s newfound freedom and greatness; however, Wheatley’s To the Right Honorable William, Earl of Dartmouth subtlety conveys a progressive racial view. In the poem, Wheatley uses carefully chosen language that highlights the inequality in the newly freed America....