How Did The Massacre Affect Celia's Trial

How did events in Missouri and the nation as a whole affect Celia’s trial?
In 1850, Robert Newsom, a prosperous and respected farmer in Missouri, acquired Celia, a fourteen-year-old black girl. The state of Missouri allowed acquisition and ownership of property and slaves to their settlers since it was a slave state. Celia became the property of Newsom and, for the next five years, she was repeatedly and cruelly abused by her master. In the course of this abuse, which included sexual abuse, she bore him two children against her will. In 1855, her endurance was driven to the limit and she decided to fight back (McLaurin, 1991). She thus took a club and hit her master on the head. However, the damage to his head got out of control, and her master

Whenever a man acquired more slaves, the amount of his wealth increased, and so did his social status. This led to Newsom, having slaves to add value to his social status. Most of his slaves worked on his farm and around the household. Among his slaves was Celia, who he made a sex slave, but to avoid a scandal, she also cooked and cleaned for him (McLaurin, 1991). Making her fulfill his sexual pleasures denied Celia control over her life. Just like other masters, Newsom believed that sex with Celia was a deserved privilege. He thus did not feel the need to get her consent before forcing her into sexual relations. This caused the feeling of helplessness for Celia, which later led to intolerance, leading her to killing her

The aspect of racism was so intense that black lives did not matter. This is seen by the powerlessness experienced by Celia when she asked her master to stop having sex with her against her will. When he refused, she struck him with a club, and, when the blow became fatal, she was terrified and buried him at the fireplace (McLaurin, 1991). Upon discovery of the crime, she was brought to trial. If Celia was enslaved in another country in the East, her chances for a better trial could have been higher. This is because, unlike Missouri, other countries had a support system for slave women. She was thus accused for murder, and the aspect of self defense was dismissed. If she was a white woman, the case would have been looked at differently. For instance, according to Rutherdale and Pickles (2014), Sankey, a woman, was tried twice and released after her appeal after being accused and arrested for the murder of Chisholm, a man in 1904. However, Celia’s request for appeal was denied since she was a black