White equality and superiority in “The Little Black Boy” by William Blake "The Little Black Boy" by William Blake, written in 1789, is about a little black boy who compares himself to a white English boy he and his family work for. The poem was written in recognition of slavery. The poem is written in quatrains in each stanza with a slavery-time ballad style ABAB rhyme scheme. This concludes in lines 25-26, “I will protect him from the heat until he can bear / To lean with joy on our father's lap.” talks about the dark color of his skin compared to the light color of the English boy "And I am black, but O! my soul is white;" (line 2). Here the little black boy states that his "soul is white" as a symbol of purity. Slavery in the United States began in 1619 when the first slaves were brought from Africa to Jamestown, Virginia. These slaves were transported to assist in the production of crops such as tobacco and cotton. Slavery became legal in America, Canada and Great Britain in 1763. Slaves never learned to read or write, as it was not needed even for work, traders and slave owners did not want slaves to understand the government otherwise they might start to rebel. Black slaves were treated poorly by many of their slave owners. However, many of them were hanged and beaten just because of the color of their skin. The slaves were never in England, they were traded on British territory outside of England. About 5% of the profits from the slave trade and plantations in the West Indies were given to Great Britain during the British Industrial Revolution...... middle of paper....... Explains his dark skin as 'love of God, who is the sun, which radiates upon them, causing them to become darker than others. "Look at the rising sun: there God lives, and gives his light, and gives his ray... And we are placed on earth for a little space, / That we may learn to bear the rays of love," ( verses 9-10, 13-14). That whole last verse sparked a thought in my head. Why when God came for both boys couldn't the white boy have the skin color of the black boy? I think this goes back to the theme that being white was superior to any other race. The theme changes to the equality of man through the eyes of God. "And then I will arise and stroke his silver hair, / And I will be like him, and he will then love me." (lines 27-28)Bibliography1. Blake, William. Poetry Foundation “The little black boy”., 1789