Born in the Senegal-Gambia region of West Africa, Phillis Wheatley (ca. 1753-1784) arrived in Boston on a slave ship in 1761. When Mrs. Susanna Wheatley purchased her as a personal servant she named Phillis after the ship. After 16 months Wheatley could read and understand any part of the Bible, and she began writing poetry at age 12. Her poem “To the Right Honorable William, Earl of Dartmouth” compares her enslaved state with that of the colonies under Britain’s rule, denouncing both.