Question

Why does Gates consider Jefferson the "midwife" of African American literature?

Answer 1

Gates feels that Thomas Jefferson can be aptly named the "midwife" of African American literature because it was he who accused the group of lacking a literature which is symbolic of their civil rights. Thus, in order to prove Jefferson wrong, the blacks began a movement which would lead to the development of a body of literature uniquely theirs. That's why Jefferson can be labeled as a midwife, because he assisted in the birth of African American literature.

Answer 2

The answer is that Jefferson's criticisms of Wheatley's work brought forth further African literature to dispute his views.

Jefferson was a statesman, diplomat, architect, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States. He was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, and as such, a proponent of democracy, republicanism, and individual rights encouraging American colonists to separate from the Kingdom of Great Britain and form a new nation.

Jefferson did not agree with that aesthetic judgment about Wheatley’s work,  in part due to the fact that he disliked the conclusion it led to. While he continued to affirm that slavery was wrong, he used that book in order o argue that whites were biologically and intellectually superior to blacks.