Jupiter Hammon

[4] The Lloyds allowed Hammon to receive a rudimentary education through the Anglican Church's Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts system, likely in exchange for his cooperative attitude.

[2][4] Hammon's ability to read and write aided his holders in their commercial businesses; these supported institutionalized slavery.

[4] He created literature layered with metaphors and symbols, giving him a safe means to express his feelings about slavery.

[2] Hammon wrote the poem during the Revolutionary War, while Henry Lloyd had temporarily moved his household and enslaved people from Long Island to Hartford, Connecticut, to evade British forces.

[4] In 1778, Hammon published "The Kind Master and Dutiful Servant", a poetic dialogue, followed by "A Poem for Children with Thoughts on Death" in 1782.

[7] Hammon's speech draws heavily on Christian motifs and theology, encouraging Black people to maintain their high moral standards because "being slaves on Earth had already secured their place in heaven.

[8] Hammon's entire body of work consists of eight publications: four poems and four prose pieces, all with religious content.

[9] The second was found in 2015 by Claire Bellerjeau, a researcher investigating the Townsend family and their slaves who lived at Raynham Hall in nearby Oyster Bay.