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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.
Celia a 14 year old slave kills her master due to him raping her quite often in a cabin by his house. When she is put up for trial the verdict does not focus on why she killed her master but because she killed her master. This relates very much to real life. During the 1800s when a slave committed a crime that the master wanted
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.
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.
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.
A slave owner from Callaway County, Missouri named Robert Newsome bought a fourteen-year-old slave named Celia. Shortly after the purchase he raped her and would continue to do it for five years. Celia gave birth to two children over time because of these actions. She actually was in love with another slave whose name was George. George wanted her to stop having sex with Newsome and threatened to leave her.
At the age of five, she witnessed the atrocity of a male slave being whipped to death. This monstrosity can be seen in the picture of a slave’s scarred back; seeing this, one can only imagine how it affected Sarah. Only three years later, the slave girl her father had assigned “constant companion,” suddenly died. Sarah was compelled to lobby for equal rights for women because of her lack of education as a young woman. She dreamed of continuing her education, but this was denied to her by her father because she was a woman.
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.
This fact does not vindicate those who condemned her – the existence of a dynamic defense in her favor shows that original thoughts were not unheard of – but it does help explain what might otherwise seem a series of inexplicably cruel, inauspicious events. The institution of slavery was responsible for young Celia’s tragic end, and hers was just one tragedy of the many that make up slavery’s long
Celia’s story derives from the nature of the specific issues and reveals her case by showing her relationship of race, gender and power in the antebellum South. Sixty-years old, widow, slaveholding farmer from Missouri, came to purchase a slave. One the way back to his form, the sixty-year old, owner raped the girl named Celia who is fourteen years old slave. Her sexual relationship continued by her owner and another slave. Then one day, Celia killed her master accidentally in the process of attempting resist from his sexual demands.
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.
