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Classroom · Grades 6–12

Phillis Wheatley

Phillis Wheatley’s poems founded the African American literary tradition, and the proof demanded before they could be published reveals the burden placed on Black writers to establish their own humanity and authorship.

Lesson at a Glance

Grades
Grades 6–12
Time
One class period (20–40 minutes)
Standards
NCSS Themes 1 (Culture), 2 (Time, Continuity, and Change), and 4 (Individual Development and Identity); C3 D2.His.4, D2.His.9
Reading
Phillis Wheatley (profile)

Big Idea

Phillis Wheatley’s poems founded the African American literary tradition, and the proof demanded before they could be published reveals the burden placed on Black writers to establish their own humanity and authorship.

Before Class

Students read the profile of Phillis Wheatley, including the Key Dates and Sources.

Discussion Questions

  1. Why did a London publisher require eighteen prominent Bostonians to sign a statement that Wheatley wrote her poems? What does that requirement assume?
  2. In “On Being Brought from Africa to America,” how does Wheatley speak to Christian readers who looked down on Africans? Is the poem accepting, challenging, or both?
  3. Why do you think Wheatley sent a poem to George Washington in 1775, and what did she gain from his reply?
  4. Freedom did not bring security: Wheatley died poor at about thirty-one. What does her life after 1774 show about the limits of freedom for Black Americans in the Revolutionary era?
  5. Some scholars now use the name Phillis Wheatley Peters. What is gained by naming her this way?

Activity

Project the 1773 frontispiece and ask students to list every detail they see (desk, quill, book, clothing, the caption naming her a servant) and what message each detail sends to an eighteenth-century reader. Then read “On Being Brought from Africa to America” aloud twice. In pairs, students annotate the eight lines, marking where Wheatley seems to agree with her readers and where she turns their assumptions back on them. Close with a discussion: why would both the portrait and the poem have been needed to answer skeptics like Thomas Jefferson? (25–35 minutes.)

Primary Sources

Cite this page
MLA
“Classroom lesson: Phillis Wheatley.” Black-History.com, 30 Sept. 2026, https://black-history.com/classroom/phillis-wheatley/.
APA
Black-History.com Editors. (2026, September 30). Classroom lesson: Phillis Wheatley. Black-History.com. https://black-history.com/classroom/phillis-wheatley/
Chicago
Black-History.com Editors. “Classroom lesson: Phillis Wheatley.” Black-History.com. September 30, 2026. https://black-history.com/classroom/phillis-wheatley/.
Editorial Note

By the Black-History.com editors. Last reviewed 30 September 2026. To suggest a primary source or a correction, write to editors@black-history.com or use our corrections form.

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