On Being Brought from Africa to America

poem by Wheatley

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July 20, 2026

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Phillis Wheatley's poem "On Being Brought from Africa to America" (written 1768) addresses her experience of slavery through the lens of Christianity. Wheatley, captured in West Africa and brought to Boston in 1761, was enslaved but unusually educated by her owners. The poem reflects on her journey from a "Pagan land" to America, viewing her enslavement as a path to spiritual redemption. It concludes with a rebuke to those who hold prejudiced views against Black people, asserting that all, regardless of skin color, can be refined and join the "angelic train". This work is considered Wheatley's most famous and highlights her perspective on faith and racial equality within the context of her own enslavement.12

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Phillis Wheatley
“On Being Brought from Africa to America” (written 1768), directly addresses slavery within the framework of Christianity, which the poem describes as the “mercy” that “brought me from my Pagan land” and gave her a “redemption” that she “neither sought nor knew.” The poem concludes…
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“On Being Brought from Africa to America” (written 1768), directly addresses slavery within the framework of Christianity, which the poem describes as the “mercy” that “brought me from my Pagan land” and gave her a “redemption” that she “neither sought nor knew.” The poem concludes…
Read More