Phillis Wheatley: Crash Course Black American History #7 - Free Educational videos for Students in K-12

Phillis Wheatley: Crash Course Black American History #7 - By CrashCourse

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00:0-1	Hi , I'm Clint smith and this is crash course
00:02	black american history . We spent a lot of time
00:05	in this series talking about how hard it was to
00:07	be a black person in the colonies and how colonial
00:10	law oppressed people of african descent . I think most
00:13	of us would look at these circumstances and just wonder
00:16	how anyone survived , how people were able to wake
00:19	up every single day and keep going in the midst
00:22	of indescribably cruel conditions . But what's most remarkable is
00:26	that black folks didn't let these conditions crush them or
00:29	define them . Slavery was what was being done to
00:34	them . It was not who they were . They
00:37	define themselves by the families , they formed , the
00:40	communities , they built , the culture , they created
00:43	. American culture , from music to art to literature
00:48	would not be what it is today . Without the
00:50	creativity , ingenuity and brilliance of enslaved people , they
00:55	created art that spoke to the conditions around them and
00:58	art that imagine what life might look like on the
01:01	other side of freedom . It was art that served
01:04	as both a mirror for their lives and a window
01:07	into what their lives might one day be . Today
01:09	. We're gonna talk about a teenager who embodied this
01:12	in her work and who threw her stunning poetry began
01:16	to change the way that others viewed black people in
01:18	the colonies . Put on your body and pick up
01:21	your quill pen . Because today we're talking about Phyllis
01:25	wheatley . Let's start the show . Yeah Phyllis wheatley
01:37	was the first english speaking black woman to ever publish
01:40	a book . It's easy to think about Western poetry
01:43	and literature as the gold standard . After all ,
01:46	most high school english classes in the US often teach
01:49	in center the works of people like E . E
01:51	. Cummings , walt , Whitman Shakespeare , Frost and
01:55	homer . And while a bunch of these folks are
01:57	great , it's important to note that the West does
02:00	not have a monopoly on poetry . And just because
02:02	we've been taught that a certain type of poetry is
02:05	considered standard , it doesn't mean we shouldn't interrogate the
02:08	very notion of who is deciding what is or isn't
02:11	considered standard in the first place . There are many
02:14	other important examples of literature that came from the African
02:17	continent , like the Timbuktu manuscripts , epic texts and
02:20	oral poems like the epic of san jura and literature
02:24	written by the kings of zero . Your cub ,
02:26	even within her era , Phyllis Wheatley was not the
02:28	first black woman poet in New England before . Weekly
02:32	for example , There was Lucy Terry Prince who wrote
02:35	her poem Bars Fight in 1746 , But it wasn't
02:39	published until about 100 years later , Phillis Wheatley was
02:43	born around 1753 in the Gambia River region of West
02:46	Africa . She was taken captive when she was about
02:49	eight years old and like millions of others brought across
02:52	the atlantic to the new world . After arriving in
02:55	New England in 1761 , she was sold to a
02:58	couple named John and Susanna Wheatley . The weeklies daughter
03:01	had died nine years earlier and historians like Vincent Coretta
03:05	, have speculated that their grief lead them to treat
03:08	Phyllis as a surrogate for their late daughter . This
03:11	is another example of the complexity and cognitive dissonance of
03:15	slavery , purchasing a human child to replace the human
03:20	child that you lost . That's a lot to unpack
03:23	for your 18th century therapists . Anyway , Phyllis was
03:26	brought to the United States following the great awakening ,
03:29	a religious movement that emphasized the importance of conversion through
03:33	a process of spiritual rebirth and accepting jesus christ as
03:37	one's personal savior . The three theologians that started this
03:39	movement were Methodists . Anglicans who came from the Church
03:42	of England . They were john Wesley , his brother
03:46	Charles , Wesley and George Whitefield . Whitefield was known
03:50	for his religiosity and passion and he was one of
03:54	Philip's greatest influences . He used to travel through the
03:57	country , preaching and sharing his ideas about the great
03:59	awakening . His message is not only influenced the broader
04:03	american public and poets like Phyllis , but also introduced
04:06	the first generation of black christian authors to Methodism .
04:10	And there's a lot of them . They included a
04:12	lot of Quijano Britain Hammond , jupiter , Hammond ,
04:16	James , Albert Lucas , ah Granada saw john Moran
04:20	in boston king Phyllis had what was in many ways
04:23	unusual upbringing relative to the plight of most other enslaved
04:26	people in the United States . Yes , some enslaved
04:29	people were brought to church , but phillips also was
04:31	allowed to learn to read and write . In fact
04:34	, within four years of arriving in boston Phyllis was
04:37	literate , An eloquent enough in the English language to
04:41	write a letter to a minister and composed a short
04:43	poem mourning the death of a neighbor . But her
04:45	big break came in 1770 , when she published a
04:49	poem about George Whitefield , whom she had first heard
04:51	preached when she was a young child . Let's go
04:54	to the thought bubble . Welcome the crash course poetry
04:56	night , I'm your host , Clint smith , wow
04:59	! We have a full house tonight . Ben franklin
05:02	. Good to see you . Sorry man . You're
05:04	gonna have to leave that kite outside Wesley Brothers .
05:07	Didn't expect to see you tonight . I thought you
05:10	had a sermon . The gift . So being a
05:12	bit of a poet myself , I'm happy to introduce
05:14	a young legend in the making . Hailing from boston
05:17	massachusetts , show your love for Miss Phyllis wheatley .
05:20	She will be performing an excerpt from her piece with
05:22	quite the title , An allergic poem on the death
05:26	of that celebrated divine and eminent servant of jesus christ
05:30	. The late reverend and pious George Whitefield . Hell
05:33	! Happy ST on the immortal throne to the complaints
05:37	of grievance are unknown . We hear no more of
05:41	the music of the tongue . I wanted auditory ceased
05:45	to throng . The lessons in unequal accents float while
05:50	emulation in each bosom globe thou doest in strains of
05:54	eloquence , refined , inflamed the soul and captivate the
05:59	mine . His lonely Tabernacle sees no more , a
06:03	white field landing on the british shore . Then let
06:06	us view him in yon azure skies ! That every
06:10	mind with this loved object rise no more ! Can
06:14	he exert his labouring breath , seized by the cruel
06:18	messenger of death ? What can his dear America return
06:22	, but drop a tear upon his happy earn thou
06:25	tomb , shall safe retain that sacred trust until life
06:29	divine reanimate his dust . Thanks , thought bubble .
06:33	This poem was an 18th century banger and it propelled
06:37	Phillis wheatley to fame . As our success grew ,
06:41	she became a symbol of the intellectual abilities of people
06:43	of African descent and thus became an important part of
06:47	the anti slavery movement . You see during this time
06:50	white people viewed black people as less intelligent . But
06:54	Phyllis is poetry directly countered that false stereotype , Historian
06:58	Winthrop Jordan has written that Phyllis wheatley ultimately became anti
07:02	slavery is most prized , exhibit her name virtually a
07:06	household term for the negroes mental equality . Another historian
07:10	, Jessica par stated in her work that Phyllis wheatley
07:14	forced the american colonist to question their ideas about black
07:17	people's intellect and humanity . Remember it was not uncommon
07:22	for african americans to be legally analogized to horses and
07:25	other animals during this period , but Phyllis capacity to
07:29	not only learn but to become an artist who wrote
07:32	beautiful poetry forced many white people to ask where black
07:37	people actually , just like us . Many famous white
07:40	philosophers who have been largely celebrated for their intellectual contributions
07:44	, like Francis , bacon , david hume , immanuel
07:47	kant . We're also people who debated the cognitive ,
07:51	emotional and moral capacity of black people and questioned if
07:55	they were really fully people at all . Phillis Wheatley's
07:58	literary success even brought into question what they believed her
08:02	influence in the debate about black humanity lasted well past
08:06	1773 when she finally gained her freedom . But not
08:11	everyone was convinced of Philip's talent , thomas , jefferson
08:14	, for example , wrote in his 17 85 book
08:17	notes on the state of Virginia , misery is often
08:20	the parents of the most affecting touches in poetry among
08:24	the blacks Is misery enough . God knows , But
08:27	no poetry , love is the peculiar Ostrom of the
08:30	poet . Their love is ardent , but it kindles
08:34	the senses only , not the imagination . Religion ,
08:37	indeed , has produced a Phillis wheatley , but it
08:40	could not produce a poet . The compositions published under
08:43	her name are below the dignity of criticism . Jefferson
08:48	, of course , is wrong , and it's not
08:51	the only time Jefferson was wrong on race , far
08:54	from it . In that same book he wrote ,
08:57	he had a suspicion that black people are inferior to
09:02	the whites in the endowments both of body and mind
09:05	. Jefferson's quite blatant racism , and notes on the
09:08	state of Virginia is a reminder that the story we
09:10	often hear about how great the founding fathers were .
09:14	Doesn't always tell the full story , but I digress
09:17	. This isn't about him . This is about Phyllis
09:20	Wheatley would die prematurely at the age of 31 ,
09:23	On December five , But she accomplished so much over
09:27	the course of her life . She published poems on
09:29	various subjects , religious and moral In 1773 . This
09:35	made her the first english speaking person of African descent
09:37	to publish a book and the second american woman of
09:42	any race to do so . She was also the
09:44	most visible black woman in New England during the american
09:47	revolutionary era . According to the historians , Catherine Adams
09:51	and Elizabeth Plec Phyllis wheatley was the best known black
09:55	person in all the colonies , hailed as a poetic
09:58	genius , widely praised for her literary talents . Her
10:02	life was in many ways the exception to the common
10:05	condition of black women of her place and time .
10:07	What's more ? She created a moment of accountability for
10:11	the american colonies . Phyllis wheatley brought into question the
10:14	false assumption that black people were incapable of greatness ,
10:18	intelligent thought and art . We should be clear though
10:21	that while Philip's life and work are worthy of celebration
10:25	and commemoration , it should not have been necessary for
10:28	black people to write and publish beautiful poetry in order
10:31	to justify their humanity . Phyllis is humanity was not
10:35	contingent on whether or not she wrote these poems ,
10:38	her humanity was always there simply because she was human
10:42	. And that's enough . It's enough for Phyllis and
10:46	for every other enslaved person still , her life is
10:49	noteworthy . Her work has lived long beyond her time
10:53	, and she remains a remarkable example of how the
10:56	gifts of people of African descent shine even under the
10:59	most inhumane of circumstances , Phillis wheatley created the bedrock
11:03	upon which generations of black writers would flourish . Poets
11:06	like robert , Hayden , Langston Hughes , Gwendolyn brooks
11:10	, Maya Angelou Nikki , Giovanni and Claudia Rankine are
11:13	all part of her lineage . Even rappers like Lauren
11:16	Hill or Kendrick Lamar can look the impact of Phyllis
11:20	wheatley on black poetry and rhetoric as a part of
11:22	their own origin story . So whether you're bopping to
11:26	the fuji's or drake , thanks Phyllis wheatley , She
11:29	really did pave the way for so many of us
11:33	. Crash course Black american history is made with the
11:35	help of all these nice people and our animation team
11:37	is thought Cafe Crash course is a complexity production .
11:41	And if you'd like to keep Crash course free for
11:43	everybody forever , you can support the series at Patreon
11:46	, a crowdfunding platform that allows you to support the
11:49	content that you love . Thanks to all our patrons
11:51	for making Crash course possible . With your continued support
00:0-1	.

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