The slave Phillis
Wheatley literally wrote her way to freedom when, in 1773, she became the first
person of African descent to publish a book of poems in the English language. Wheatley
was for a time the most famous black woman in the West. Though Benjamin
Franklin received her and George Washington thanked her for poems she dedicated
to him, Thomas Jefferson refused to acknowledge her gifts. Henry Louis
Gates, Jr., explores the pivotal roles that Wheatley and Jefferson have played
in shaping the black literary tradition. He brings to life the characters and
debates that fermented around Wheatley in her day and illustrates the peculiar
history that resulted in Thomas Jefferson's being lauded as a father of the
black freedom struggle and Phillis Wheatley's vilification as something of an
Uncle Tom. It is a story told with all the lyricism and critical skill that
have placed Gates at the forefront of American letters.
