Movement1775
Early African American Political Writing Published
Throughout early 1775, essays by African Americans appeared in colonial newspapers, arguing that the principles of liberty colonists invoked against British tyranny applied equally to enslaved persons. These writings built on the legacy of Phillis Wheatley, who in 1773 became the first African American to publish a book.
Why It Matters
Early African American political writings challenged the nation to confront the contradiction between its founding ideals of liberty and the reality of slavery, a tension that would shape American civic life for centuries.