Phillis Wheatley

Phillis Wheatley (c. 1753–1784) was the first enslaved American and the first person of African descent to publish a book of poetry. Born in West Africa and enslaved by the Wheatley family of Boston, she became literate in English, Latin, and classical literature. Lacking a willing publisher in the American colonies, she secured British patronage, resulting in the London publication of her collection, "Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral," by bookseller Archibald Bell in September 1773. The volume contains neoclassical poems addressing theology, morality, and contemporary politics. It achieved widespread distribution in Europe and North America, serving as a foundational text for transatlantic abolitionists who cited Wheatley's intellectual achievements to refute contemporary theories of African racial inferiority.