We are introduced to the author of the book, Bryan Stevenson who is a member of the bar in two states Alabama and Georgia. He then receives a call from the local Judge Robert E. Lee about a case which involves a man called Walter McMillian’s. He knew that he could have gotten into great danger but he decides to do the right thing and confront the case. In the county of Monroe an eighteen-year-old woman is brutally murdered. The murder took everyone by surprise and even after a few days of investigating no one could find concrete evidence to point out who was the killer.
The book, “Celia, A Slave,” is a true story written by Melton A. McLaurin and published by the University of Georgia Press in 1991. McLaurin was an educator at the University of South Alabama where he served several years as Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs before retiring. He is known for writing several articles and books about the American South and race relations. He wrote this book specifically about slavery and how women and men or blacks and whites were divided. Whites were superior in the United States.
The book Celia, a slave, was written by Melton McLaurin to show the horrors of slavery in America during the slavery periods and thus, provide insight into the dark times of the slavery encouraging America of the time. In the book McLaurin expertly explores the topic of sexual exploitation of slaves by narrating the case of Celia, a slave that was convicted of the murder of her owner. Celia was only fourteen years old when she was bought as a slave for her owner who at the time had five other slaves. At the time owning of slaves was the apex of wealth, and her owner who happened to be rich by the standards of the time could afford to have five slaves. Robert Newsom, who bought Celia, started sexually abusing her on the day she was purchased
Celia, A Slave by Melton A. McLaurin is based on true historical events. It is a book about the many challenges slave women had to endure and the effects proslavery had on the conscience and people of the time. Their possible feelings of helplessness, being treated poorly, unfairly and having no rights as a human being. These events took place in the south during a time when slavery was at its peak and was in the process of expanding slavery to neighboring states who in contrast were against slavery. McLaurin discussed a few key issues of the way of life in southern America was, the good and the bad.
In the book Celia Garth by Gwen Bristow, there is an adolescent girl who is battling a “normal life” every teenager is supposedly suppose to live and trying to stay alive while the Revolutionary War is happening. During trying to balance these two aspects of her life she goes through many obstacles, between losing her fiancé, Jimmy, and spying for her new lover Luke. Celia shows attributes for being a exquisite role model, from keeping her faith throughout the book, to being respectful and loving to all the people that came into her life, and being and staying humble. Throughout the hardships and twists of the war, Celia still remained intact with her religion and love for God.
The well-written book is thoroughly detailed and has an excellent plot. The story begins in Charleston in 1803. Sarah Grimke receives Handful,
Melton McLaurin’s book Celia, A Slave, addresses the moral dilemma in the United States during the 1850’s about the heated debate over slavery. Celia, a Slave is a true story about the trial, conviction and hanging execution of a young female slave for the murder of her master. Celia, a slave, faced daily sexual exploitations at the hands of her master which started at the tender age of fourteen, and ultimately ended when she murdered him. The conditions surrounding Celia’s life exemplify the certainties of slave life in the South and moral choices the institution of slavery forced upon slaves and slaveholders. The course and result of Celia's trial were affected by people and a court framework that were attempting to accommodate the individual
Sometime around 1820 the Newsom family moved to Callaway County located in middle Missouri. Around 1850 Robert Newsom had acquired around 800 acres of land and various lives amounts of livestock. He also owned male slaves which was common at the time. In the summer of 1850 Robert purchased another slave, a fourteen-year-old girl name Celia. Over the next five years Robert would continuously sexually assault and rape Celia.
As Melton A. McLaurin states in Celia, A Slave, “Under such circumstances the slavery debates… were inevitably a part of the backdrop to Celia’s trial…” (79). Proslavery conventions, congressional debates and various publications informed Missouri citizens of the tenuous state of affairs when it came to the issue of slavery and certainly influenced the jury during Celia’s
One of the most difficult situations to face in life is a moral dilemma. This is exactly what was encountered by slaveholders and plain folk alike concerning the trial of Celia, a slave during the 1850s. The moral ambiguity of slavery is addressed in Celia, A Slave, especially as the sexual aspect of Celia’s case called people to contemplate whether it was moral to mistreat slaves. When Celia had been sexually abused and mistreated by her master, she lashed out and killed him. From the perspective of the 1850s, her master, Robert Newsom, had not committed a crime, whereas Celia had perpetrated a crime deserving of the death penalty.
The South was a slave society, with nearly every aspect of life touched by the presence of a brutal institution rooted in the dehumanization of black people and the supremacy of white males. At the time of Celia’s trial, Southerners felt that this way of life was being threatened by heated politics playing out both in Kansas and at home. Her fate was guided by the decisions and reactions of Southerners living in this uncertain atmosphere. These decisions, though they are what logically led to Celia’s death, were inevitably and inseparably connected to the institution of slavery. In a sense, the individual decisions were merely a means to an end, an end decided by the fact that Celia lived in a slave society that couldn’t afford the cost of her justice.
The novel is a based on a black family in Mississippi in the 1930’s. They had their own land and lived all alone in a community where white people ruled. They had to persevere through the fact that they were black and were considered trash to white people. The Logan family had their own farm and land when almost every The characters such as Mr.Jamison stood up against racism, segregation, night riders, and lynching. He persevered through hard times and showed great courage.
In Celia, A Slave, Melton A. McLaurin presents a harrowing account of slave life and the complexities of the peculiar institution of antebellum America. Through the lens of Celia's trial, McLaurin unveils the brutal realities of slavery while also shedding light on the societal attitudes and contradictions surrounding the institution. In the narrative of Celia, A Slave, Melton A. McLaurin delves deep into the life of Celia, a young enslaved woman, and her eventual trial for the murder of her master. McLaurin's account not only illuminates the harsh conditions of slavery but also provides insights into the societal perceptions and contradictions that underpin the institution. Celia's narrative offers a stark portrayal of the harsh realities endured by enslaved
The beginning of the 17th Century marked the practice of slavery which continued till next 250 years by the colonies and states in America. Slaves, mostly from Africa, worked in the production of tobacco and cotton crops. Later , they were employed or ‘enslaved’ by the whites as for the job of care takers of their houses. The practice of slavery also led the beginning of racism among the people of America. The blacks were restricted for all the basic and legally privileged rights.
Dear Diary, My name is Chione, and I am a female slave in Ancient Egypt. I have decided to write this diary, so that future people know what it is like to be a female slave at this time. Most slaves are men, like my dear loving husband, and we both agreed to become slaves because we were poor. I can’t write nor read, therefore I am poorly educated. That is why I had to get my best friend Ehab who is a scribe to write this diary for me.
