Comparison Of Phillis Wheatley And Sojourner Truth

After the legacy of one African American woman ended, the legacy of another began, in a completely different manner. Phillis Wheatley, who lived from 1753 to 1784, was a woman who discovered Christianity and wrote large collections of literature emphasizing her interpretation of the religion. As a result of her lavish upbringing as a slave, Wheatley gained a lot of exposure and opportunities to showcase her talents through the connections her master and mistress had. She was taught English, Latin, and the Bible and created impressive literature, especially for a young African American woman at the time. She created a persona that, while racially-conscious, impressed some well-known Caucasians of the time, like George Washington. However, her …show more content…
Phillis Wheatley began her journey to fame by writing to “Reverend Samson Occom, a converted Christian Mohican Indian minister”, having her first verses of poetry published in a Newport, Rhode Island newspaper in 1767, and putting poetry in The Boston Censor three times in 1772 (Robinson 712-713). In addition, Wheatley was given the opportunity by her generous mistress, Mrs.Wheatley, to have her literature published with the help of the Countess of Huntingdon in London, Selina Hastings, who was a supporter of evangelical and abolitionist causes (Neale). The poetry collection, the first of which was published by a “black American, man or woman,” included the entire breadth of Wheatley’s accomplishments of her lifetime, including her well-known Christian elegies, her short and racially conscious poem “Thoughts on Being Brought from Africa to America,” and other Biblical and naturistic poems. Within her collection, she also included two pieces of flattery to an English captain and the Earl of Dartmouth, which was common among poets who were in the search of patrons. At this time, Phillis Wheatley was highly celebrated, and had a following of well-known people, including Benjamin Franklin. Her most well-known poem “On Being Brought from Africa to America”, tells her Great Awakening audience to “remember that Africans must be included in the Christian stream.” She …show more content…
Harriet Beecher Stowe believes the best elements of the Woman Movement were embodied in Sojourner Truth. Harriet Beecher Stowe characterized Sojourner Truth as “the Libyan Sibyl” (362). Truth is compared to George Washington and Betsy Ross as a symbol of strength, in particular, the Strong Black Woman. She was an itinerant preacher, “telling the truth and working against injustice” (“Sojourner Truth A Life and Legacy of Faith”). She preached for human rights, “the rights of freedman, temperance, prison reform and the termination of capital punishment” (“Sojourner Truth A Life and Legacy of Faith”). While she traveled, she became friends with many well-known reformers of the time, such as Amy Post, Parker Pillsbury, Frances Dana Gage, Wendell Phillips, William Lloyd Garrison, Laura Haviland, Lucretia Mott, Susan B. Anthony, and Harriet Beecher Stowe. Truth’s grandson accompanied her on her lecture tours and could read and write for her; however, he died at the age of twenty-four. She lived in Battle Creek with her daughters, Diana and Elizabeth, after she first came to Battle Creek to address the radical Quaker group. This article also shows how Sojourner Truth helped freedman, and with examples of her work to help them. She worked at Freedman’s Village and for the Freedman’s Bureau, to improve the way they lived. Often,