Writers of the Revolution: Phillis Wheatley and Abigail Adams PDF

Writers of the Revolution Letter to the Reverend Samson Occom by Phillis Wheatley Phillis Wheatley became the first African- them on moral and religious subjects....

Writers of the Revolution Letter to the Reverend Samson Occom by Phillis Wheatley Phillis Wheatley became the first African- them on moral and religious subjects. American poet to be published. Moreover, While in London in 1773 to publish her her unusual life is the stuff that movies are book of poetry, Wheatley was the toast made of. Kidnapped at age seven in West of society, which included many nobles Africa, she was sold to the prosperous and dignitaries and the visiting American Wheatley family at a Boston slave auction. patriot Ben Franklin. Within 16 months, the precocious child Life as a Free Black Woman By 1778, Phillis Wheatley had mastered English and could read the Wheatley had gained her freedom and c. 1753–1784 Bible. She then went on to learn Latin and married a free black man. Their life Greek well enough to read the classics. notable quote together was a losing struggle against “Some view our sable Startling Success Story With the poverty, however, for in many respects race with scornful eye... encouragement of the Wheatley family, living as a free black in a colonial city Remember, Christians, she started writing poetry as a teenager. was as bad as being a slave. In late 1779, Negroes, black as She gained considerable fame both in the Wheatley tried to get a second book of her Cain, colonies and in England when newspapers poems published, but war-torn, financially May be refin’d, and join began publishing her poems, most of strapped Boston had lost interest in her. th’ angelic train.” Letter to John Adams by Abigail Adams Abigail Adams was the wife of the second An Early Feminist? Because of her support U.S. president, John Adams, and mother for women’s education and her acute of the sixth, John Quincy Adams. But she awareness of men’s “absolute power,” is equally well-known for her outspoken many have championed Abigail Adams opinions as expressed in thousands of as an early advocate of women’s rights. personal letters. However, although her thinking was Abigail Adams clearly advanced for her time—she also Intelligent and Competent The daughter favored the abolition of slavery—she held 1744–1818 of a wealthy minister, young Abigail quite conventional views about a woman’s read extensively in her father’s well- notable quote stocked library. After marrying John subordinate role in society. “Remember all Men would be Adams, she moved with him to a farm in tyrants if they could.” Braintree, Massachusetts. As John became increasingly involved in colonial politics and the struggle for independence, Abigail For more on Wheatley and Adams, visit took over management of the household the Literature Center at ClassZone.com. and farm as well as John’s business affairs. 254 literary analysis: diction Explore the Key Idea Diction is a writer’s choice of words. Diction includes both vocabulary (words) and syntax (arrangement of words). Who gets to make the Diction can be formal or informal, common or technical, abstract or concrete. Note the formal diction in this excerpt rules? from the letter written by Abigail Adams: KEY IDEA Those in authority make How many are the solitary hours I spend, ruminating upon the the rules for others—whether it’s in past, and anticipating the future, whilst you, overwhelmed with the halls of Congress or the classroom. the cares of state, have but a few moments you can devote to The authors of these two letters, any individual. while agreeing wholeheartedly with the patriot cause, still felt left out of Writers often communicate tone, or attitude toward a subject, the process and the benefits of the through their diction. As you read the letters, notice words and American Revolution. phrases that reveal each writer’s attitude toward the issues of liberty and freedom. DISCUSS People today have not only more freedom than people did in reading strategy: reading primary sources colonial times but also more ways to change the laws. Think of at least three Primary sources are materials written or made by people who situations in which rules directly impact took part in or witnessed the events portrayed. These sources your life. Then for each situation, can provide unique insights on a subject. To get the most out discuss ways that are available to of a primary source, consider the following: change or modify those rules. Who was the writer? The age, nationality, and social class of the writer can influence the point of view. What is the form of the document: letter, diary, speech? How might the form have affected the content? When and where was it written? The time and place of a primary source’s writing can provide clues to the culture and history of the period. Who is the intended audience? In a private letter to a loved one, a writer might voice thoughts and feelings more freely than in an open letter to a public audience. For help analyzing the letters of Wheatley and Adams, complete a chart such as the one shown here as you read each letter. Writer: Form: When and Where Written: Intended Purpose/Audience: 255  etter to the Reverend Samson Occom Phillis Wheatley background The Reverend Samson Occom was a Mohegan Indian who became a minister after converting to Christianity. In a letter to Phillis Wheatley, he had criticized some of his fellow ministers for owning slaves. Wheatley’s response to her friend, dated February 11, 1774, was later published in colonial newspapers. Reverend and honored sir, I have this day received your obliging kind epistle, and am greatly satisfied with ANALYZE VISUALS your reasons respecting the negroes, and think highly reasonable what you offer This image shows a slave auction in New in vindication of their natural rights: Those that invade them cannot be insensible Amsterdam (New York). that the divine light is chasing away the thick darkness which broods over the What does this tell you land of Africa;1 and the chaos which has reigned so long, is converting into about slavery in colonial beautiful order, and reveals more and more clearly the glorious dispensation of America? civil and religious liberty, which are so inseparably united, that there is little or no enjoyment of one without the other: Otherwise, perhaps, the Israelites had been less solicitous for their freedom from Egyptian slavery;2 I do not say they would 10 have been contented without it, by no means; for in every human breast God has implanted a principle, which we call love of freedom; it is impatient a a DICTION of oppression, and pants for deliverance; and by the leave of our modern Describe Wheatley’s diction in lines 1–11. How Egyptians3 I will assert, that the same principle lives in us. God grant deliverance do you think her way of in his own way and time, and get him honor upon all those whose avarice impels writing might have struck them to countenance and help forward the calamities of their fellow creatures. white readers at the This I desire not for their hurt, but to convince them of the strange absurdity time? of their conduct, whose words and actions are so diametrically opposite. How well the cry for liberty, and the reverse disposition for the exercise of oppressive power over others agree—I humbly think it does not require the penetration4 of a 20 philosopher to determine.— b b PRIMARY SOURCES Does Wheatley’s letter deal with private or public issues? What are they? 1. insensible... the land of Africa: unaware that Christianity is spreading throughout Africa. 2. Israelites... Egyptian slavery: a biblical allusion to the Israelites who were led out of Egypt by Moses. 3. modern Egyptians: the owners of African slaves. 4. penetration: understanding; insight. First Slave Auction in New Amsterdam, 1655. 256 unit 1: early american writing The Granger Collection, New York.  etter to John Adams Abigail Adams background In March of 1776, while John Adams was in Philadelphia with other delegates drafting a code of laws for the new independent country, Abigail wrote a letter asking him to “remember the ladies” in the new laws: “Be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of husbands.” John’s response was to laugh and remark, “You are so saucy.” The following is the next letter she sent to him. Braintree, 7, May, 1776 How many are the solitary hours I spend, ruminating upon the past, and ANALYZE VISUALS anticipating the future, whilst you, overwhelmed with the cares of state, have These pastel portraits of Abigail and John Adams but a few moments you can devote to any individual. All domestic pleasures and were done in 1766, about enjoyments are absorbed in the great and important duty you owe your country, two years after their “for our country is, as it were, a secondary god, and the first and greatest parent. marriage. How do these It is to be preferred to parents, wives, children, friends, and all things, the gods portraits compare with only excepted; for, if our country perishes, it is as impossible to save an individual, those that might be done today of a young couple? as to preserve one of the fingers of a mortified hand.” Thus do I suppress every wish, and silence every murmur, acquiescing in a painful separation from the 10 companion of my youth, and the friend of my heart. c c PRIMARY SOURCES I believe ’t is near ten days since I wrote you a line. I have not felt in a humor Does Adams’s letter to entertain you if I had taken up my pen. Perhaps some unbecoming invective1 concern itself with private or public issues in lines might have fallen from it. The eyes of our rulers have been closed, and a lethargy 1–10? What does she say has seized almost every member. I fear a fatal security has taken possession of about the relationship them. Whilst the building is in flames, they tremble at the expense of water to between the private and quench it. In short, two months have elapsed since the evacuation of Boston,2 the public? and very little has been done in that time to secure it, or the harbor, from future 1. unbecoming invective: inappropriate abusive language. 2. two months... Boston: British troops under General William Howe and more than a thousand Loyalists evacuated Boston on March 17, 1776. 258 unit 1: early american writing  invasion. The people are all in a flame, and no one among us, that I have heard of, even mentions expense. They think, universally, that there has been an amazing 20 neglect somewhere. Many have turned out as volunteers to work upon Noddle’s Island, and many more would go upon Nantasket,3 if the business was once set on foot. “’T is a maxim of state, that power and liberty are like heat and moisture. Where they are well mixed, every thing prospers; where they are single, they are destructive.” A government of more stability is much wanted in this colony, and they are ready to receive it from the hands of the Congress. And since I have begun with maxims of state,4 I will add another, namely, that a people may let a king fall, yet still remain a people; but, if a king let his people slip from him, he is no longer a king.5 And as this is most certainly our case, why not proclaim to the world, in 30 decisive terms, your own importance? d d DICTION Shall we not be despised by foreign powers, for hesitating so long at a word? Reread lines 25–30. What words suggest a I cannot say that I think you are very generous to the ladies; for, whilst you concern with political are proclaiming peace and good-will to men, emancipating all nations, you issues? What does this insist upon retaining an absolute power over wives. But you must remember, diction tell you about that arbitrary power is like most other things which are very hard, very liable to the writer’s comfort with be broken; and, notwithstanding all your wise laws and maxims, we have it in discussing the subject of government? our power, not only to free ourselves, but to subdue our masters, and, without violence, throw both your natural and legal authority at our feet;— “Charm by accepting, by submitting sway, 40 Yet have our humor most when we obey.”6 e e PRIMARY SOURCES I thank you for several letters which I have received since I wrote last; they What inconsistency in the attitudes of the times alleviate a tedious absence, and I long earnestly for a Saturday evening, and does Abigail Adams point experience a similar pleasure to that which I used to find in the return of my out in lines 32–40? friend upon that day after a week’s absence. The idea of a year dissolves all my philosophy. Our little ones, whom you so often recommend to my care and instruction, f DICTION shall not be deficient in virtue or probity,7 if the precepts of a mother have their Reread lines 46–51. What desired effect; but they would be doubly enforced, could they be indulged with does the formal language used to discuss both the example of a father alternately before them. I often point them to their sire, public and private matters 50 “engaged in a corrupted state, tell you about family Wrestling with vice and faction.”8 f relations at the time? 3. Noddle’s Island... Nantasket: sites near the city of Boston. Noddle’s Island is now called East Boston. 4. maxims of state: rules or short sayings related to government. 5. king: a reference to King George III, who ignored colonists’ protests and put Massachusetts under military rule. 6. “Charm... obey”: a couplet taken from Alexander Pope’s poem Moral Essays. 7. deficient... probity: lacking in goodness or integrity. 8. “engaged... faction”: lines taken from Joseph Addison’s play Cato. Cato (234–149 b.c.) was a Roman politician who fought for high moral standards in the Roman Senate. 260 unit 1: early american writing