Angeleca Dunbar

June 18, 2015

Biography Project
Ways Students Can Document Research:
To document research I would have a log for students to fill out. The log will include
source of information, 1 example of information found from source, date researched and
printed article if possible. I dont want the process to be too tedious because I want the
focus to be on the research and not the documentation of the research. For the lower
grades especially.
Diary:
5 May 1762
My name is Phyllis. I took my name from the slave ship that brought me over.
Miss Susanna and Miss Mary teach me how to read and write. I like it. I get to learn
about Greek mythology and such.
Everyday I wake up and do chores around the house first. Of course I cant do
much because I fall ill often. But soon after breakfast is finished, the Misses give me
lessons. Master and misses dont treat the others the same. I am the only colored in the
house who gets to learn.
21 December 1767
I am just beaming with pride. My poem Messrs. Hussey and Coffin was
published in the Newport Mercury Newspaper today! Master Wheatley sure did work his
magic on this one.
I had been working on it for just a few short days and he thought it good enough
to get it published. I hope to do more for the paper, but you know getting anything written
by a slave is very hard to get recognized by the whites.
8 May 1773
I have not been feeling my best lately. I have become so ill with respiratory
problems. The air in England has helped the issue a little but I am here also with Master
Wheatley and his wife to do some work.
The publishing house in England finally agreed to publish my book of poems! We
decided to title it Poems of Various Subjects, Religious and Moral Of course they had
to note on the very first page that it was written by a slave girl because it just wouldnt be
right to have these white folks reading colored peoples writing without them knowing.
12 March 1778
Master John Wheatley has passed away today. Such a very sad day for all of the
Wheatley family and Wheatley slaves. He was a good master. I am ever so grateful to
have had him as a part of my life. He has taken me places a slave would have never
dreamed of. I frequented England many times with him for business. No other slave has
published books.
In his will Mr. Wheatley has made it clear that I am free. I am no longer a slave. I
am elated at the thought of freedom. A part of me wishes that he were still alive, but I
understand that this is what had to happen in order for me to be free. Boston is not at
peace right now. The country is at war. I just hope to have the same good graces I had
when Master Wheatley was alive.

Birth Certificate:
There would not have been a birth certificate for Phyllis Wheatley because she
was born in West Africa on December 5, 1753. No records would have been recorded for
the tribal people. However, in doing research I was able to find that her name before
coming to America was Sasha Gamboa and she would have been apart of the mandinka
people.
*Timeline:
1770 March 5. The Boston Massacre.
George Whitfield Dies and he is memorialized by one of Phyllis Wheatley's great
poems.
1772 November 2. Committees of Correspondence. Samuel Adams called for a Boston
town meeting to create committees of correspondence to communicate Boston's
position and rejection of British policies including prospect of a colonial Anglican
bishop. Similar committees were soon created throughout the colonies. At this
first meeting John Allen preached on The Beauties of Liberty
1773 May 10. Parliament passed the Tea Act. By reducing the tax on imported British
tea, this act gave British merchants an unfair advantage in selling their tea in
America.
December 16. Boston Tea Party. When British tea ships arrived in Boston harbor,
many citizens wanted the tea sent back to England without the payment of any
taxes. The royal governor insisted on payment of all taxes. But instead a group of
men disguised as Indians boarded the ships and dumped 340 chests of tea into the
harbor.
1774

Coercive Acts. In response to the Boston Tea Party, Parliament passed several acts
to punish Massachusetts.
March 31. The Boston Port Bill, closed the Boston port to all trade as of June 1.
In response,
May 24. The House of Burgesses adopted a resolution naming June 1, the day the
port of Boston was to be closed, a day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer in
Virginia.
The Administration of Justice Act offered protection to royal officials in
Massachusetts, allowing them to transfer to England all court cases against them
involving riot suppression or revenue collection.
The Massachusetts Government Act put the election of most government officials
under the control of the Crown, essentially eliminating the Massachusetts charter
of government.
Quartering Act. Parliament broadened its previous Quartering Act (1765). British
troops could now be quartered in any occupied dwelling.

May 13. General Thomas Gage (1721-1787) arrived in Boston to take command
of British forces quartered there.
Thomas Jefferson's Summary View of the Rights of British America was
published by Clementine Rind in Williamsburg and reprinted in Philadelphia and
London. The manuscript brought Jefferson acclaim; consequently, the Continental
Congress later chose him to draft the Declaration of Independence.
1775

January 14. Lord Dartmouth forbids the colonies to import powder and arms
from Great Britain.
New England Restraining Act. Parliament passed an act banning trade between
the New England colonies and any other country besides Great Britain.
New England Resists. British troops continued to attempt to seize colonial
ammunition, but were turned back in Massachusetts, without any violence. Royal
authorities decided that force should be used to enforce recent acts of Parliament;
war seemed unavoidable.
April 18/19. Paul Revere's (1735-1818) midnight ride British troops planned to
destroy American ammunition at Concord. When the Boston Committee of Safety
learned of this plan, it sent Paul Revere and William Dawes to alert the
countryside and gather the Minute Men.
April 19. Lexington and Concord. The first battles of the American Revolution
took place when Minute Men and British troops met at Lexington, where a shot
from a stray British gun lead to more British firing.
June 15. George Washington is named commander-in-chief.
June 10, John Adams proposed that Congress consider the forces in Boston a
Continental army, and suggested the need for a general. He recommended George
Washington for the position. Congress began to raise men from other colonies to
join the army in New England, and named a committee to draft military rules.
June 15, Washington was nominated to lead the army; he accepted the next day.
To pay for the army, Congress issued bills of credit, and the twelve colonies
represented in the Congress promised to share in repaying the bills.
July 8. Olive Branch Petition. Congress issued a petition declaring its loyalty to
the king, George III, and stating its hope that he would help arrange reconciliation
and prevent further hostilities against the colonies. Franklin and Adams thought
this was a useless gesture, but they consented to appease the "moderates."
August 23. King George III rejected the petition and declared the colonies in
rebellion.

1776

"Common Sense." Thomas Paine (1737-1809) moved many to the cause of

independence with his pamphlet titled "Common Sense." In a direct, simple style,
he cried out against King George III and the monarchical form of government.
February 2.Excerpts from Paine's pamphlet were printed in the Virginia Gazette.
June 7. Richard Henry Lee (1732-1794), chairman of the Virginia delegation,
offered a resolution for independence in Congress stating that the colonies "are,
and of right ought to be, free and independent States." June 11. Congress
appointed a committee, chaired by Thomas Jefferson, to draft a declaration of
independence.
July 4 Declaration of Independence Signed by Congress
*All timeline events were taken from http://longislandgenealogy.com/timeline.html
Biography Bottle:

Newsletter:

First Book Published by a Slave

On this day, the 8th of May 1773 the twenty-year-old female slave to
Mr. John Wheatley has done it again! She has wowed us with her
literary abilities in her new book Poems of Various Subjects, Religious
and Moral. If you recall, she has was the writer of that beautiful ode to
Reverend George Whitefield when he passed away on December 30,
1770. In just a few short weeks, you will be able head on down to the
bookshop and purchase this fine piece of literary art.

Collage:

Poem:
Born in Africa, brought over by a ship. John Wheatley bought you to serve his family.
Too ill to work, to intelligent to sit, his wife and daughter taught you how to read and
write elaborately. Becoming the First slave, first African American to have a book
published. Your legacy will live on and not mixed in with rubbish. General George
Washington and others too, have all spoken so highly of you. Phyllis, Phyllis. So lyrically
inclined. Your poems, your writings, your letters are all divine.
Obituary:

Rubric: Total 100 points

Diary
3 Journal entries from persons point of

_____/15 pts.

view about important event(s) in their

lifetime. Minimum 1 paragraph each.
Birth Certificate
Create Birth Certificate. Include Name,
Date of Birth, Parents, and Place of birth.
Timeline
Make a list of ten important historical
events during this persons lifetime. It may
be directly or indirectly related to person.
Biography Bottle
Create a bottle person using a 12 oz 2
liter bottle to bring your person to life.
Newspaper Article
Write an article or ad that might have
appeared in the newspaper during the
lifetime of your person.
Picture Collage
Create a collage of pictures that represent
your person. Minimum of 5 pictures.
Poem
Write a poem about your person. Include
facts about the persons life.
Obiturary
Write an obituary that celebrates the life
and achievements of the person you are
studying.

_____/ 10 pts.
_____/10 pts.

_____/25pts.
____/10 pts.

______/ 10 pts.
_____/10 pts.
______/10 Pts.

References:

Historical Time Line - Revolutionary War Years. (n.d.). Retrieved June 18, 2015, from
http://longislandgenealogy.com/timeline.html
Phillis Wheatley. (n.d.). Retrieved June 18, 2015, from
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/phillis-wheatley
Phyllis Wheatley - Biography. (n.d.). Retrieved June 18, 2015, from
http://www.inspirational-black-literature.com/phyllis-wheatley.html

Timeline. (n.d.). Retrieved June 18, 2015, from http://www.phillis-wheatley.org/timeline/

University of South Carolina Libraries - Rare Books and Special Collections. (n.d.).
Retrieved June 18, 2015, from http://library.sc.edu/spcoll/wheatley/carretta.html