In May of 1773, readers of one of Boston’s many newspapers would have seen the news that “Capt. Calef在船上 伦敦乘客先生乘谁去伦敦. 纳撒尼尔·惠特利, 商人, 和菲利斯·惠特利, the ingenious Negro poet”—variously described as “the extraordinary poetess” or “the extraordinary poetical genius, 先生的黑人仆人. 约翰·惠特利.” 的 reason for Phillis Wheatley’s trip was partly to regain her fragile health, 但更重要的是引导她的诗集出版. 一年前, 在波士顿出版她的诗集的提议失败了, but Susannah Wheatley—the wife of her enslaver—arranged for 伦敦 publisher Archibald Bell to produce the slender volume of poetry.

她在给大卫·伍斯特的信中写道, the young poet found an enthusiastic welcome among the British where she encountered “such kindness Complaisance, 还有那么多尊敬和真正友谊的标志, 回想起来，我很惊讶.“在那里的六个星期里, 她遇到了贵族和女士, 教授, 以及包括本杰明·富兰克林在内的政治家. 她看到了伦敦塔, 皇冠上的珠宝, 大英博物馆, 和皇家天文台, 其他景点. 的 Earl of 达特茅斯 gave Wheatley a gift of 5 Guineas and several reading recommendations. 当苏珊娜·惠特利生病的消息传到伦敦时, 然而, 菲利斯急忙返回波士顿, 九月到达，期待着她的副本 诗 会紧随其后. 在10月中旬给伍斯特写信时，她希望 达特茅斯，艇长. 詹姆斯·霍尔将在“8到10天内”到达.”

的 达特茅斯

Wheatley’s calculation about the date of the arrival of her books turned out to be a little optimistic. 的 ship lay in port in 伦敦 waiting for enough return cargo to make the voyage profitable and the captain ended up agreeing to transport British East India tea to Boston, 几乎没有预料到大西洋彼岸的情况. 1773年11月28日 达特茅斯 带着114箱讨厌的茶叶来到波士顿, was impounded at Griffin’s Wharf until the restive citizens of Boston would decide its fate. In the hold of the ship along with the tea was the container transporting printed copies of Phillis Wheatley’s 诗.

12月16日晚上, 心怀不满的波士顿市民采取了行动, 倾销茶叶的货物从 达特茅斯, 海狸, 埃莉诺 进入波士顿港. 韦奕礼很幸运, 然而, the participants were committed to the destruction of the tea—and only the tea. Rather than a mob action, Robert Allison describes the Boston Tea Party as a tactical strike:

每艘船上的人分成三队. One went below the deck to bring out the chests; others worked the hoists and tackles to bring the chests up from the hold; others split the chests with their hatchets and dumped them over the side. “Perfect regularity prevailed during the whole transaction,” one observer noted. “Although there were many people on the wharf, entire silence prevailed,--no clamor, no talking.“每个班长都根据舱单仔细地清点着, 确保东印度公司的每一箱茶叶, 只有东印度公司的茶叶, 被摧毁.“……他们的工作完成了, 船员们关上了货舱, 收起滑车, 扫过甲板, 并邀请警官来检查工作.

惠特利的板条箱 各种题材的诗歌 那晚幸存下来，1774年1月底，考克斯公司成立 & 波士顿国王街的贝瑞提供了惠特利作品的副本, “Adorn’d with an elegant Engraving of the Author” for sale—the first published volume of poetry by an African American woman.

自由

Although Wheatley could have self-emancipated the moment she stepped on English soil due to the provisions of the decision in 萨默塞特v. 斯图尔特她选择回到波士顿的惠特利家. 但正如她在给伍斯特的信中所说, “自从我回到美国，我的主人, 是应我在英国的朋友们的要求给了我自由吗. 的 Instrument is drawn, so as to secure me and my property from the hands of the Executrs. 管理员, &c. 我的主人 & secure whatsoever should be given me as my Own …” For the first time in her life, Phillis would be wholly responsible for herself—something she acknowledged in her letter to Wooster:

谨随函附上建议， & 利用你对绅士们的兴趣 & 你认识的女士们也要订阅, for the more subscribers there are the more it will be for my advantage as I am to have half the sale of the Books, 这一点我更关心, as I am now upon my own footing and whatever I get by this is entirely mine, & 我只能依靠局长了. 我还必须请求你希望纽黑文的印刷商, 不要再版那本书, 因为这会对我造成很大的伤害...

正如文森特·卡雷塔（Vincent Carretta）在他的惠特利传记中所观察到的那样. 271)，自由对菲利斯·惠特利不利；

的 attention Phillis Wheatley received in 伦敦 in 1773 and the reception of her writings there after her return to Boston gave her good reason to anticipate freedom and literary success in America as well. She did not foresee how greatly the economic and social disruptions caused by the American Revolution would alter her expectations. She would soon discover how many of the “good great folks” in Boston would come to her aid once she was a free woman of color.

然而，惠特利从未停止过努力. In 1778, she married a free Black man named John Peters and the next year tried to find a publisher for a second volume of poetry to be dedicated to Benjamin Franklin. 波士顿出版社 & Adams agreed to publish it if she could attract a sufficient number of subscribers, 而是在一个处于革命中的城市和国家, 诗歌不是最重要的. 1784年，惠特利重新提出了这项建议，但还是没有人接受. 出版后，她又发表了几首诗 各种题材的诗歌，但从未复制她的首次亮相的成功.

Her married life cycled between stability and chaos—and as Henry Louis Gates Jr. succinctly put it, “Wheatley’s freedom had enslaved her to a life of hardship.“我已经失去了两个孩子, Phillis Wheatley and her young daughter died in a Boston boardinghouse in December of 1784. According to Carretta, her husband was probably in prison for debt at the time. 的 独立纪事报和环球广告 of 9 December briefly noted her death: “Phillis Peters formerly Phillis Wheatley aged 31, 以她著名的杂诗闻名于文学界. Her funeral is to be this afternoon … where her friends and acquaintances are desired to attend."在她死后的几个月里, 约翰·彼得斯登广告要求归还“一卷诗歌手稿” &菲利斯·彼得斯的c, formerly Phillis Wheatley … as the whole of her works are intended to be published.“遗憾的是, 她的第二部诗集的手稿因历史而遗失了, although a few individual poems have surfaced in the centuries since her death.