PHILLIP M. RICHARDS

Colgate University

Born a slave on October 17, 1711, Jupiter Hammon is best known as
the first published Afro-American poet by virtue of his 1760 poem,
"An Evening Thought." Hammon served the family of Henry Lloyd,
owner of Queens Village, a manor on Long Island (Osann 20, 24). The
Lloyds were paternalistic masters who rewarded obedient slaves with
affection and trust.¹ Clearly, Hammon was an exceptional slave. He, like
few other bondsmen in the Huntington area, was a Christian.² During
his adulthood, Hammon handled small financial matters for the family.³
Most importantly, he was educated and given the leisure to read as well
as to write. These biographical facts underlie the now accepted picture of
Hammon as a black writer who uncritically assimilated the religious
views of his master and contentedly accepted the role of pampered slave
(Baker 3-6). However, this conventional view fails to assess the impact
of the Revolutionary period upon Hammon as a preacher and spokes-
man.

The American Revolution, which interrupted the comfort and stability
of the poet-preacher's life, was the central political event of Hammon's
experience. By the time of the struggle, the Lloyd family had split into
Loyalist and Whig factions. When the British occupied Long Island in
1776, the sixty-five-year-old Jupiter Hammon went to Connecticut with
two Lloyd Whigs, his second master, Joseph Lloyd (Henry's son) and
John Lloyd II, Joseph's nephew. They lived first in Stamford and later in
Hartford. Joseph Lloyd committed suicide mistakenly believing that the
British had captured Charleston and were about to win the war. After the
end of the Revolution, Hammon returned to Queens Village with his
third master, John Lloyd. The slave preacher apparently died at some
time between 1790 and 1806 (Osann 30, 38). Hammon was therefore in
a position to observe firsthand the political conflicts that rocked Long Island

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