America and Other Poems

America and Other Poems (1853) is a book of poems by J.M. Whitfield. Published while the poet was working as a barber in Buffalo, New York, America and Other Poems captures his sense of poetic form while expressing his belief in the abolition of slavery. In these odes, hymns, and prayers, Whitfield established his reputation as a pioneering African American poet, an impassioned voice for his people who tirelessly sought to change the course of history with his words. “The North Star,” which concludes the collection, was written for Frederick Douglass’ abolitionist newspaper The North Star, that “guard of truth and liberty” for all. “The writer of the following pages is a poor colored man of this city, engaged in the humble, yet honorable and useful occupation of a barber.” In the introduction to his debut book of poems, J.M. Whitfield proudly and directly asserts his identity. Although he does not fit in with the traditional figure of the poet, Whitfield proves his mastery of form while condemning slavery in the strongest terms. “America” opens the collection with a direct address to the nation “from whence has issued many a band / To tear the black man from his soil, / And force him here to delve and toil”: “America, it is to thee, / Thou boasted land of liberty,― / It is to thee I raise my song, / Thou land of blood, and crime, and wrong.” Without fear, Whitfield questions the moral and political promise of a nation built by slaves. He demands through song and prayer the advent of a day when to “north and south, and east and west, / The wrongs we bear shall be redressed.”

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J.M. Whitfield (1822-1871) was an African American poet and abolitionist. Born in New Hampshire to Joseph Whitfield, who escaped slavery in Virginia, and Nancy, the daughter of a freed slave, Whitfield was educated in Exeter until his father’s death. Having lost his mother at the age of seven, Whitfield was orphaned at just nine years old. Nothing is known about his life until 1839, when records show him as the owner of a barber shop and a home in Buffalo, New York. In his free time, Whitfield published his own writing, and in 1853 found publication with James S. Leavitt of Buffalo for a small volume of poems. America and Other Poems―dedicated to his friend Martin Delany―earned him a reputation as a leading black poet of his time. His poems on abolition, American history, nature, and political figures appeared in William Lloyd Garrison’s The Liberator and Frederick Douglass’ The North Star. Alongside Delany, Whitfield became a fierce advocate for the Colonization Movement, marking a major break from the abolitionist faction represented by Douglass. In the early 1860s, Whitfield moved to San Francisco, where he opened another barber shop and joined the Prince Hall Freemasons. He was the grand uncle of Elizabeth Pauline Hopkins, a pioneering novelist and playwright.