Phillis Wheatley Peters (c. 1753 – December 5, 1784)

Phillis Wheatley, the first published African American poet, used
biblical themes to persuade believers in Christ to abolish slavery.

Born around 1753 in western Africa, Wheatley was sold to a slave
trader at only seven years of age. Quickly distinguishing herself
as a remarkable student, she finally secured her emancipation in
1773.

She once wrote, “In every human Breast, God has implanted a
Principle, which we call Love of Freedom; It is impatient of
Oppression, and pants for Deliverance; and . . . the same
Principle lives in us.”

Statue of Phillis Wheatley in Boston by Meredith Bergmann, dedicated in 2003.

In what is now known as Juneteenth, on June 19, 1865,
Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas with news
that the Civil War was over and slavery in the United
States is abolished.

A mix of June and 19th, Juneteenth has become a day
to commemorate the end of slavery in America. Despite
the fact that President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation
Proclamation was issued more than two years earlier on
January 1, 1863, a lack of Union troops in the rebel state
of Texas made the order difficult to enforce.        
        
       

The holiday is considered the "longest-running African-American holiday"^[ and has been called "America’s second Independence
Day."