George Moses Horton

George Moses Horton
Bornc. 1798
Northampton County, North Carolina
DiedUnknown after 1883
OccupationPoet, formally Enslaved
EducationNo formal education; mostly self-taught
PeriodAntebellum
GenrePoetry
SubjectFreedom
Years active1828–1867
Notable worksThe Hope of Liberty, Naked Genius
SpouseMartha Snipes
ChildrenFree, Rhody

George Moses Horton (c. 1798–after 1867), was an African-American poet from North Carolina who was enslaved until Union troops, carrying the Emancipation Proclamation, reached North Carolina (1865). Horton is the first African-American author to be published in the United States. (Phillis Wheatley's poetry was published earlier, in the United Kingdom.) He is author of the first book of literature published in North Carolina and was known as the "Slave Poet".