Why did phillis wheatley die

At the age of eight, she was kidnapped and brought to Boston on a slave ship. Upon her arrival, John Wheatley purchased the young girl, who was in fragile health, as a servant for his wife, Susanna. During the peak of her writing career, she wrote a well-received poem praising the appointment of George Washington as the commander of the Continental Army.

However, she believed that slavery was the issue that prevented the colonists from achieving true heroism. How did Phillis Wheatley died Cause of death? What was Phillis Wheatley's first poem called? Who bought Wheatley? Born in West Africa, she was sold into slavery at the age of seven or eight and transported to North America.

She moved into his home months before they married on 26 November , Thanksgiving Day. Their marriage was initially prosperous and promising, according to tax and court records. Phillis and John Peters lived in a relatively upscale section of Boston. Peters and his white business partner sold rye, wheat, tea, nails, sugar, and other goods in the counties of western Massachusetts during the spring and summer of At a time when creditors often had to take debtors to court to collect what was owed them, Peters won one lawsuit against a debtor.

But he simultaneously lost a much larger lawsuit by one of his own creditors in The debt he owed her was greater than his net worth.

Faced with the choices of imprisonment for debt, or fleeing to avoid prosecution, Peters apparently chose the latter. He and Phillis disappeared from the public records for the duration of the American Revolution.

Winning, however, gained him nothing because his debtor had fled to England. In the eighteenth-century, especially during the depression following the Revolutionary War, many men had multiple occupational identities, simultaneously as well as successively. His petition, however, may have alerted his creditors that he had returned to Boston, including the creditor to whom he had lost the lawsuit in John left all his possessions to his children and Phillis was not mentioned in his will.

Phillis was left alone suffering from the loss of her closest friends. In April of Phillis married John Peters, a free slave. It is not clear when and where Phillis met Peters.

The first time he is mentioned is in a letter Phillis wrote to her friend Obour Tanner. Phillis continued to write, working on proposals for two more volumes of her poetry but it never materialized as she could not find financial support. She wrote heroic couplets and poems dedicated to famous people. How did Phillis Wheatley help in the Revolutionary War? During the peak of her writing career, she wrote a well-received poem praising the appointment of George Washington as the commander of the Continental Army.

However, she believed that slavery was the issue that prevented the colonists from achieving true heroism. How did Phillis Wheatley contribute to society? Phillis Wheatley is a pioneer in African American literature and is credited with helping create its foundation. She provided inspiration to future generations of African Americans who fought for the abolition of slavery and civil rights.

Slavery still had to wait until when President Lincoln abolished it. When was Wheatley born? May 8, What did Phillis Wheatley believe in? Susannah Wheatley believed that all human beings, including African slaves, could learn if given the chance.