Jupiter Hammon
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Jupiter Hammon (born October 17, 1711 – died 1806?) was a Black poet and the first published Black writer in America, a poem appearing in print in 1760. He is considered one of the founders of African American literature.
Hammon was a slave his whole life, owned by several generations of the Lloyd family on Long Island, New York. However, he was allowed to attend school, and thus (unlike many slaves) was able to read and write.
In 1786, Hammon gave his "Address to the Negroes of the State of New York" before the African Society. Hammon wrote the speech at age seventy-six after a lifetime of slavery, and it contains his famous quote, "If we should ever get to Heaven, we shall find nobody to reproach us for being black, or for being slaves."[1]
The speech draws heavily on Christian motifs and theology. For example, Hammon said that Black people should maintain their high moral standards precisely because being slaves on Earth had already secured their place in heaven. Hammon's speech also promoted the idea of a gradual emancipation as a way of ending slavery.[2] It is thought that Hammon stated this plan because he knew that slavery was so entrenched in American society that an immediate emancipation of all slaves would be more difficult to achieve. The speech was later reprinted by several groups opposed to slavery.
Because of Hammon's famous speech and his poetry, his writings are still anthologized.
