Summary Of Celia A Slave

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

Jameson wanted the jury to be “focused on the sexual nature of the relationship” between Celia and her master (McLaurin, 96). Jameson wanted the jury to focus on the sexual relationship between Celia and her slave master so that the jurors would understand why she fought back against her master. Attorney Jameson wanted to defend Celia so that she would have a fair trial in the midst of the slavery controversy. One of the tactics that Jameson used was legally questionable; however, it was also morally appeasable the actions that he took outside the courtroom to try and save this young girl’s life. Jameson wanted to show that Celia was morally justified in her decision to defend herself from yet another unwanted sexual encounter with her master. Jameson wanted to fight for Celia because he knew that she did what she had to as a human being to protect herself from her

Celia was not allowed to testify in her own defense because slaves were not allowed to testify against whites. John Jameson was an experienced trial lawyer and somewhat prominent in the community. He himself was a slaveholder, and believed that slavery was fundamentally right, moral and comparable with American and Christian ideals. However, Jameson also believed that men are required to protect women and children. Because of the horrendous torment that Celia faced during her time with Newsom and her motivation to protect herself from him, Jameson and his team attempted to apply to her case the Missouri law that provided women with the right to defend themselves in cases of sexual assault. This particular law made no reference to color or race of the woman or man. Due to the ongoing feuds about the constitutionality of slavery, during the time of the trial, the Judge threw out Jameson’s defense. In fact, the Judge threw out all of Jameson’s defenses, even though they were legit legal defenses in a court of law. The verdict, of course came back guilty, but still Jameson did not give up. He appealed to the Supreme Court and requested a stay of execution so that the case could be re-evalutated through the Supreme Court. Celia’s execution date drew closer and Jameson and his team knew the case would not be heard in time, therefore, somehow Celia and another black slave being held