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When did African American literature begin in North America?

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Phillis Wheatley's first book of poetry — African American literature Frontispiece and title page of *Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral* (1773) by Phillis Wheatley, the first Black woman to become a poet of note in the United States. The portrait on which the frontispiece's engraving is based is often attributed to Scipio Moorhead, an Black artist and writer who, like Wheatley, was enslaved and living in Boston.

African American literature in North America began during the second half of the 18th century. Early writers utilized their work to advocate for human rights and to challenge the prevailing proslavery arguments of the era, which often cited the absence of Black literature as evidence of intellectual inferiority.1

Key figures and milestones from this foundational period include:

Phillis Wheatley: An enslaved woman in Boston, Wheatley became the first African American to publish a book with her 1773 collection, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral. Her work demonstrated mastery of classical forms and served as a powerful argument for the spiritual and intellectual equality of Black people.21
Jupiter Hammon: An enslaved man whose poetry and sermons, dating back to the mid-18th century, also contributed to the early demand for literary recognition among African Americans.1
Olaudah Equiano: In 1789, he published his autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, which pioneered the slave narrative genre—a crucial form of literary testimony against slavery.1