n on July 11, 1761. Her first name was derived from the ship that carried her to American, The Phillis. During her life, while it was not common for American women to be published-it was especially uncommon for children of slaves to be educated at all. Her gift of writing poetry was encouraged by her owners and their daughter, Mary; they taught Phillis to read and write, with her first poem being published at the age of twelve, "On Messrs. Hussey and Coffin." The Countess of Huntingdon, Selina Hastings, was a friend of the Wheatley's who greatly encouraged and financed the publication of her book of poetry, Poems. Phillis was especially fond of writing in the elegiac poetry style, perhaps mirroring the genre of oration taught to her through the women in her African American tribal group. Phillis popularity both in the United States and in England ultimately brought her freedom from slavery on October 18, 1773. She even appeared before General Washington in March 1776 for her poetry and was a strong supporter of independence during the Revolutionary War. She felt slavery to be the issue which separated whites from true heroism: whites cannot "hope to find/Divine acceptance with the' Almighty mind" when "they are disgrace/and hold in bondage Afric's blameless race." Phillis Wheatley proved that persons of African descent could think, read and write works of literature. She was an author known to both the colonies and Europe, sadly, with the Revolution at hand; her literary career stumbled with Phillis and her only surviving child dying much too young in Boston, Massachusetts, December 1784. Below is a poem by Phillis Wheatley, speaking of the injustices she faced:
             On Being Brought From Africa to America
             'Twas mercy brought me from my pagan land,
             Taught my benighted soul to understand
             That there's a God, that there's a Savior too:
             Once I redemption neither sought nor knew.
             Some view our sable race with scornful e...