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Phillis Wheatley

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Poet

The Resume

    (circa 1753-December 5, 1784)
    Born in Senegal
    Kidnapped by slave traders and shipped to America (1761)
    Named after the ship that transported her to America
    Owned by John and Susannah Wheatley of Boston
    Wrote ‘To the King's Most Excellent Majesty’ (1768), ‘Poems on Various Subjects: Religious and Moral’ (1773), ‘An Hymn to the Evening’, ‘To His Excellency, General Washington’ (1776), ‘On being Brought from Africa to America’, and several others
    Died in Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Why he might be annoying:

    It's unknown which specific modern-day country she was born in.
    Her second volume of poetry was forever lost because no publisher was interested in it.
    Her tombstone had no inscription.

Why he might not be annoying:

    She was sold to slavery at the age of 8.
    She was the first known African-American poet.
    Women during her lifetime had to struggle a lot in order to get a decent reputation. However, slaves had an even bigger struggle for reputation.
    Her owners, particularly her mistress, acknowledged her intelligence and took great risks educating her and even raised her as their own daughter.
    She was a proud American patriot who supported its independence.
    Her writing style was so good that she even had to defend her works in court (1772).
    She created a genre known as African-American literature.
    African-American poet Jupiter Hammon wrote a poem to her (1778).
    Two of her children by her husband, a free black grocer named John Peters, died in infancy.
    She died in poverty while giving birth to her third child.
    She is considered as one of the 100 Greatest African-Americans by Molefi Kete Asante (2002).

Credit: Big Lenny


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 12 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 22 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 21 Votes: 47.62% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 18 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 32 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 24 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 12 Votes: 16.67% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 20 Votes: 30.0% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 69 Votes: 49.28% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 60 Votes: 46.67% Annoying