Lucy Terry Prince and Phillis Wheatley were enslaved women in Massachusetts who accomplished great things but at what cost? Was it worth the horrible experience of enslavement for them to be able to become accomplished writers? Students will understand that although enslaved people had no control over their own lives, sometimes opportunities or situations occurred which would have otherwise been denied them.
Samuel Sewall was a member of the Governor’s Council in Massachusetts from 1691 to 1725. In 1700, he wrote The Selling of Joseph, in which he condemned the practice of enslaving people. Although he said that, “they [the enslaved] can seldom use their freedom well”, he also stated that, “Evil must not be done that good may come of it,” and “Liberty is in real value next unto Life: None ought to part with it themselves, or deprive others of it.” Lucy Terry Prince and Phillis Wheatley both proved Sewall wrong by using well their enslavement and their freedom, but at what cost? What do today’s students think?
As students read about these two remarkable women, they should keep lists of the negative and positive aspects of their lives. Then hold a class discussion to answer/discuss the following:
- Finish this sentence, “Yes, Lucy and Phillis were enslaved, but…”
- Finish this question, keeping it a question, “Yes, Lucy and Phillis accomplished great things, but…” (Example- Was it worth being torn from their birth families?)
Use the two questions above repeatedly to list whatever concerns students express.
Also ask:
- When considering the lists of positives and negatives, what should be given the most consideration? Reorder each list by priority.
- What do you think Sewall would have said if he had known these two women?
- What obstacles might they have faced had they tried to accomplish what they did as free people of color?
- Had they not ever been enslaved, how might the lives of Lucy and Phillis been better? How might they have been worse?
Possible answers to the discussion questions
