Phillis Wheatley was a young African-American slave who belonged to landowner John Wheatley in Colonial America.

Early slaves were generally denied education, but Wheatley was allowed by her owner to study poetry, Latin and the Bible.

The board of judges questioned Wheatley extensively and ruled that she was educated enough to have written the book

What does the speaker say about Phillis Wheatley?

What was Wheatley forced to do to get her book published

Wheatley may have been the first, but she was not the only slave to write books during the growing days of the Republic.