Let’s practice!

Read the passage and then answer the question.

Phillis Wheatley arrived in America on a slave ship in 1761. She was thought to be eight years old at the time. After her arrival, Phillis was sold to the Wheatleys, a Boston family whose surname she took. Members of the family helped teach Phillis how to read and write. Since most enslaved people were not allowed any schooling at that time, Phillis’s education was an anomaly. Phillis learned about many topics, including history, languages and science. At the age of thirteen, she published her first poem. In 1773, Phillis Wheatley made history by becoming the first African American to publish a book of poems. She became one of the first American women to do so as well.