Classroom Activities
The issues addressed in the Relevance of Wheatley's Works dovetail well into a discussion of the circumstances surrounding the publication of her collection to be entitled Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral.
The University of South Carolina’s Digital Collections Department contains a searchable facsimile of the text. The toolbar on the left side of the screen offers a clickable breakdown of the volume’s contents. The students will notice a section, "To the Publick," in the contents prior to the poems themselves. Page 7 of the facsimile reproduces the attestation of several prominent members of Boston society.
Student Activities
Have the students take note of some of the more recognizable names found in the list of signers (John Hancock, Samuel Mather) and discuss the level of importance this event must have had to the intellectual climate of the time.
Have the students read the page and discuss why these poems, in particular would need to be vouched for.
Discuss the ways in which this authenticated document contributes to the various debates mentioned above.
Author: John McCormack, Hammond School (Columbia, SC)
