She also was well versed in Latin, which allowed her to write in the epyllion (short epic) style with the publication of "Niobe in Distress." Phillis' popularity as a poet both in the United States and in England ultimately brought her freedom from slavery on October 18, 1773. She even appeared before General Washington in March 1776 for her poetry and was a strong supporter of independence during the Revolutionary War. She felt slavery to be the issue which separated whites from true heroism: whites can not "hope to find/Deivine acceptance with th' Almighty mind" when "they disgrace/And hold in bondage Afric's blameless race." She died in Boston, Massachusetts as a result of childbirth in December 1784.
The Second African American Woman I want to discuss is Bridget ("Biddy") Mason (1818-1891) was born a slave on a Mississippi plantation. When her owner, Robert M. Smith, became a Mormon convert in 1847, Mason and her three daughters joined his family on a 2,000-mile trek to the Utah Territory during which Mason was responsible for herding the cattle, preparing the meals and serving as midwife. Four years later, Smith moved his household to San Bernardino County, Calif., where Brigham Young was starting a Mormon community. California being a free state, Mason and her daughters petitioned the court for their freedom, which was granted in 1856. Mason moved to Los Angeles where she worked as a nurse and midwife. A decade after gaining her freedom, she had saved enough to buy a site on Spring Street for $250, thereby becoming one of the first African-American women to own land in Los Angeles. In 1884, she sold part of the property for $1,500 and built a commercial building on the remaining land. Over the years, her wise business and real estate transactions enabled her to accumulate a fortune of almost $300,000. Mason gave generously to charities, visited jail inmates, and provided food and shelter for the poor of all races.