On Being Brought from Africa to America

By claiming that “mercy” brought her from her “pagan land” (Line 1), Wheatley’s speaker begins the poem in a metaphoric space rather than a literal one. The word “mercy” becomes a metaphor to replace the personal specifics of Wheatley’s enslavement: her capture, passage, and sale. By choosing to metaphorically rather than literally describe her experience, Wheatley avoids traumatic sentiment and also dodges the potential scorn of proslavery readers. Instead, “mercy” becomes the personified force that lifts the once ignorant speaker. Still, most readers of the poem will know something about the horrors of slavery and may consider “mercy” a peculiar diction choice here.

The first four lines of the poem establish the speaker’s intelligence. Wheatley dually uses the word “benighted” in second line; first, to suggest that the speaker lacked educational opportunity, and second, to imply the blackness of her skin. With the second line, the speaker remarks how her “soul” now “understand[s],” suggesting that both her mind and her spirit are unified in knowledge. As the poem continues, the speaker specifies that part of this understanding is the acceptance of God: “[T]here’s a God […] there’s a savior too” (Line 3). Clearly, religious belief is an important aspect of the speaker’s identity and one that merits further explanation. Line 4 introduces the speaker’s desire for “redemption”: the salvation of her soul after death. However, similar to the word “benighted” in the second line, “redemption” also carries an alternative reading. When read in the context of Wheatley being an enslaved person, “redemption” also means the pursuit of liberation. The speaker “neither sought nor knew” (Line 4) freedom, because prior to her capture, freedom was simply her reality.

Intellectual prowess is radical for a woman—especially a slave woman—to claim given the time “On Being Brought from Africa to America” was written. In fact, the poem hinges on its logical structures and racial awareness for the final four lines to effectively resonate. The speaker offers a statement about racial prejudice: “[S]ome view our sable race with scornful eye” (Line 5). By acknowledging such racism, the speaker further asserts her intelligence in the context of the white intellectual superiority of the time. She even occupies a white speaker, “’their color is a diabolic die’” (Line 6), to demonstrate her self-awareness. Not only is the speaker able to see herself as others see her, but she is capable of using that knowledge as an argument lauded against its validity.

The poem then pivots from a presumptive space of disempowerment to reveal the speaker as an intellectual authority. The word “remember,” used as an imperative, demands that “Christians” view “Negros” as intellectual equals (Line 7). Wheatley reminds her white audience that African Americans “may be refin’d” (Line 8), or capable of intelligent thoughts and emotions. They too, can “join th’ angelic train” (Line 8) of higher learning and spiritual development. By enacting the arguments used against African Americans to justify their enslavement, Wheatley’s speaker weaponizes their charges to challenge the social norms of her time. Essentially, Wheatley uses white logic against itself.

However, Wheatley does not rely on reason alone. She intertwines reason and morality, advocating for more honest Christian principles. By establishing herself as a moral pillar—or an individual pursuing her soul’s redemption—she appeals to the morality of her readers. Using the biblical allusion of Cain, Wheatley invokes Christian parables and biblical knowledge to further establish the credibility of her faith. In fact, in Wheatley’s vision, a spiritual path (or the “angelic train” (Line 8)) is a haven free from racial divisions or oppression. Ultimately, “On Being Brought from Africa to America” is an anti-slavery poem that implores its white audience to reconsider how they view African Americans. Wheatley suggests that a true Christian does not judge.