Analysis and Review of Readings The field of African-American women’s history is a field of history unlike any other. It requires a new perspective and analysis of primary and secondary sources. Historians, McLaurin, Hendricks, and Hine, look into this unique field and change the narrative of black women in US history. Melton A. McLaurin wrote Celia, A Slave to tell the story the of a slave woman who went to trial for brutally killing her master in response to his repeated sexual assault as a case study that looks into the “moral anxiety” slavery caused in individuals and the effects of race, gender, and power in the antebellum South. Wanda A. Hendricks brings to life an elite black woman and tells of her experiences in different parts of …show more content…
McClaurin uses the politics of specific people, the state of Missouri, and the nation to explain why Celia’s trial played out the way it did. He bases Newsom’s politics off of the politics of other people similar to him in economic status and occupation. He talks of Missouri’s history and how it entered the union as a slave state and continued overtime to be a focal point in the argument over the institution of slavery. Kansas and Nebraska are frequently referenced because of the political turmoil over slavery that turned violent. Throughout Fannie Barrier Williams, Hendricks focuses on the political state of each place Williams lives in. Using Williams’ narrative, Hendricks is able to focus heavily on the progressiveness and activism in Chicago and the rise of club women in Washington, D.C. There is also an underlying theme throughout Fannie Barrier Williams that even though Williams was able to escape racism at the local level, she could never completely overcome it because of the institutionalization of racism at the national level. Hine is even more impressive in her expansion of the political scope in the her article because of her narrow focus in Columbia, South Carolina. Columbia was unusual in and of itself in regards to its political climate as it is a southern capital, but a black woman was able to become a very successful doctor. Hine is able to show both local politics and state politics because she chose the capital city as the setting for her narrative. Evans still has to overcome the institutionalized racism at the national level like Williams did, but at the state level she was able to persuade the state legislatures to appropriate funds in order for her to open her vaccination clinics and compromise black healthcare with the well-being of white families and the efficiency of white businesses. Overall politics plays a crucial role in all