George Horton was a slave who worked in North Carolina during the 1820s and 1830s, who taught himself to read and author poems, which are collected in this book. As a young slave Horton detested manual farm work; he preferred to study and use his mind. He was able to obtain books, and diligently educated himself in the arts of literature and poetry. Once he was confident enough, he began to write poems of his own. Horton's...