The Poem "On Being Brought from Africa to America" by Phillis Wheatley is full of significance as well as mysticism.
The significant part of the story of her life comes with two curious aspects of the life of slaves that some people might not know. First, slaves were given the surname of their owners; in this case, she was named after a John Wheatley and the ship she was brought into America, “The Phillis”. Second, contrary to the common belief, not all slaves were abused, Phillis Wheatley was allowed to study and write. At the age of fourteen, she published her first poem in a local newspaper.
The mystical part is actually present in the lines of the poem, Wheatley presented the idea that black people and white people were equal to the eyes of God. This is extremely important because in order to justify their acts against black people, mainly slavery, white people used to believe that black people did not have a soul, they were considered animal.
The most significant aspect of this small poem is that it was the first one to present the idea that black people and white people were equal to God:
“Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land,
Taught my benighted soul to understand
That there's a God, that there's a Saviour too:
Once I redemption neither sought nor knew.
Some view our sable race with scornful eye,
"Their colour is a diabolic die."
Remember, Christians, Negros, black as Cain,
May be refin'd, and join th' angelic train.”
So the answer to this question is:
It is the first literary work to assert African equality to whites.
It is among the first literary works published by an African author.
It is among the first literary works published by an African American.