Comparison Of George Horton's On Liberty And Slavery

George Moses Horton was a slave from North Carolina, who fought through the odds. He was known for his dedication to teaching himself how to read and write. He is also known for being the first african american to write and within their writings protest the attributes of slavery. George uses his life experiences to vividly express his feelings throughout his poems. George Moses Horton, known as the slave poet, uses imagery to depict the harsh realities of slavery in his poem, “ On Liberty and Slavery “.

George Moses Horton was born a slave in North Carolina on William Horton’s tobacco plantation. George grew up with his five older sisters, and his four younger brother and sisters. When George was a little older he moved away with his master to Chatham County, where he then taught himself to read and began to write poems. Many of his poems originated from the rhythms of hymns. When George reached his twenties he began visiting the University of North Carolina, were he wrote love poems for students in return they gave him old books to help him grow with his writing skills. As he was writing poems a woman by the name of Caroline Lee Hentz a novelist and a professor’s wife

Many of his poems were autobiographical. In his poems he uses phases such as “ How much longer do we have to live in bondage”. ( On Liberty and Slavery ) Growing up with slavery caused most of his poems to focus on the aspects of how and what he and his family had to go through. George used his poems to reflect and say things that many people wouldn’t, that’s how he became known as the, Black Bard of North Carolina. Throughout his life he experienced many things that could have caused a person to give up on everything, but instead he used his hurt, pain, and feeling’s as motivation to educate and inform people about what he experienced and had to endure. Throughout his poems he used many things to really make you visualize what was going