Phillis Wheatley was born in  Senegal, Africa in 1753. She was sold in slavery at the age seven, to John and Susannah Wheatley of Boston.  She became a sensation after she wrote a poem about the death of the evangelical preacher.  Most of Phillis's poems reflected on her religion and classical New England. She was the first African slave to publish a book. She died on December, 1784, in Boston Massachusetts because of child birth.