Phillis Wheatley was born in West Africa around the year 1753. She was only a few years younger than Thomas Jefferson, yet her life was very different. Phillis Wheatley was kidnaped and sold into slavery at age seven to a wealthy Boston family, Mr. and Mrs. John Wheatley. Although she was spared the worst of slavery, she was still a purchased servant. Phillis Wheatley learned the English language quickly and was taught by Mrs. Wheatley. She received no formal schooling, but her speed in learning was impeccable. She also learned Greek, Latin, and was taught Christianity. Thus Phillis Wheatley's gifts were cultivated and her writing was encouraged. She began to know the Bible well, as well as three major poets - Milton, Pope, and Gray. This not only touched her deeply but can be noticed as a strong influence in her works.
             Her first published work was On Messrs. Hussey and Coffin, was published in 1767, but she gained recognition for her poem, On the Death of the Rev. Mr. George Whitefield, in 1770. This man was the great evangelistic minister who frequently toured New England. When Phillis suffered from asthma due to the New England climate in 1773, she and the Wheatley family traveled to England where she recuperated. In England, they found a publisher for her poetry. Thus, the collection, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, was the first book published by an African American author. Because some were doubtful that she was really the author, due to her youth and their racism, the publisher included a letter from Mr. John Wheatley.
             "PHILLIS was brought from Africa to America, in the Year 1761, between seven and eight Years of Age. Without any Assistance from School Education, and by only what she was taught in the Family, she, in sixteen Months Time from her Arrival, attained the English language, to which she was an utter Stranger before, to such a degree, as to read any, the most difficult Parts of the Sacred...