George Moses Horton (1797-1883) was an illiterate African-American slave who composed poetry in his head. He was born into slavery on a tobacco farm in rural North Carolina, and composed poems in his mind through his teen years. He was allowed by his master to visit the nearby University of North Carolina, where he recited poems to students who eagerly wrote them down and paid him for his compositions. His fame spread, and a collection of poems was published under the title The Hope of Liberty (1829). Horton was the first black southern author and the first African American poet to produce a volume in more than half a century. 1797 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1883 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black), is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... The Buxton Memorial Fountain, celebrating the emancipation of slaves in the British Empire in 1834, London. ... The University of North Carolina, often called the University of North Carolina System to avoid confusion, is a federation of all sixteen public universities in North Carolina. ...

Two more collections of Horton's poetry include Poetical Works (1845) and Naked Genius (1865). Horton began calling himself "the Colored Bard of North Carolina." Many of his works were vivid and powerful attacks on slavery. The Buxton Memorial Fountain, celebrating the emancipation of slaves in the British Empire in 1834, London. ...

After the American Civil War, Horton moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he lived until his death. Once in the North, he never published another verse. The American Civil War (1861–1865) was fought in North America within the United States of America, between twenty-three mostly northern states of the Union and the Confederate States of America, a coalition of eleven southern states that declared their independence and claimed the right of secession from the... Independence Hall, as it appears today. ...