Lydia Huntley Sigourney (1791-1864) was perhaps the most popular and influential American poet of her time. Deeply concerned with social injustices of all kinds, she was already speaking out against such problems as slavery, war, and the persistent mistreatment of Native Americans as early as the 1820s. She was equally at home in comedy and tragedy, and continued to publish with unabated zest and incisiveness for half a century. In all, she is estimated to have written over 2,000 poems.