What is Phillis Wheatley?
[[File:Phillis Wheatley frontispiece (cropped), 1834.jpg|thumb|The [[picture]] shows that Phillis Wheatley was writing her [[book]] and getting her [[idea|ideas]]. This picture shows her as a [[poet]].]] '''Phillis Wheatley''' (c.1753 – December 5, 1784) was a [[poet]]. She was the first [[African-American]] woman to have a book published. She was born in [[West Africa]], probably in [[The Gambia|Gambia]]. She was captured and made a [[slave]] in the [[United States]] when she was about seven years old on a slave ship called The Phillis.<ref>Doak, Robin S. Phillis Wheatley: Slave and Poet, Minneapolis: Compass Point Books, 2007</ref> Her master and his wife taught her how to read and write. Wheatley wrote her first published [[poem]] when she was 13. She wrote over 100 poems in her life.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.vcu.edu/english/engweb/webtexts/Wheatley/philbio.htm|title=Wheatley Biography|website=archive.vcu.edu}}</ref> Although she was an African slave, Phillis Wheatley was one of the best-known poets in America.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/phillis-wheatley|title=Phillis Wheatley|last=Foundation|first=Poetry|date=2019-04-24|website=Poetry Foundation|language=en|access-date=2019-04-24}}</ref> In 1770 Wheatley wrote a poetic [[tribute]] to the [[evangelist]] [[George Whitefield]]. A lot of people said good things about the poem. In 1773 a collection of 39 poems Wheatley had written, ''Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral by Phillis Wheatley'' was published. It was the first book by an African American woman to be published. The book made her famous in [[England]] and the American colonies. There was a poem in the book about a slave trader who brought people from [[Africa]] to America. Wheatley's mistress, Mrs. Wheatley, died on October 18, 1773. At this point Wheatley did not have to do household chores anymore. Yet, it was not until 1778 that she was set free when her master, John Wheatley, died.<ref>Women's Political and Social Thought: An Anthology by Hilda L.