Celia, A Slave by Melton McLaurin tells a true story of a female slave who was sexually exploited by her master and the trial she faced as a result. At the young age of fourteen, Celia was brought to Callaway County under her new master, Robert Newsom. Celia later murdered Newsom, in an act of self-defense, and was placed on a trial challenging the institute of slavery and the moral beliefs of anyone involved with slavery in the South. The short life of the young Celia revealed a slave girl who had pushed beyond the ideal limit of a system that denied her humanity and threatened to erode the base of the antebellum southern society. Slaves during the mid-1800s were considered chattel and did not have rights to anything that opposed their masters’ wishes. “Although the slaves’ rights could never be completely denied, it had to be minimized for the institution of slavery to function” (McLaurin, 118). Female slaves, however, usually played a different role for the family they were serving than male slaves. Housework and helping with the children were often duties that slaveholders designated to their female slaves. Condoned by society, many male slaveholders used their female property as concubines, although the act was usually kept covert. These issues, aided by their lack of power, made the lives of female slaves …show more content…
The challenges and difficulties slaves faced at the time of Celia’s trial left white Americans viewing them with little entitlements. Celia’s trial brought a new perspective into society in a time where slaves, especially females, were without hope. Her story was a beneficial challenge to the institution of slavery because it reached the thoughts of many involved in the controversy during the 1850s and left an effect on the standards of
Nonetheless, southern women were often pulled out from their family, constrain to live a miserable life at the husband house and unable to leave their house without an escort, whether is to visit family member often hundreds of miles away. Her husband could often leave the plantation for weeks for business purpose elsewhere in the country, trusting her to run the plantation alone. In the Old South marriage was not standardized, women were forced into arrange marriage often to others family member in other to keep their wealth. The Old South was very much an undemocratic society, built on old-fashioned notions of honor and fortune, and women were captive to this far more than men were. Although they had all the luxury a person could want in the world, despite laws that forbid a woman from owning slaves and the lack of sufficient education, responsibility for managing the entire plantation often fell on her in the absence of her husband. She was responsible for taking care of her home, raise and teach her children. Beyond the fact that she took care of her children’s, she was also required to looks at needs of any slaves her husband may own, stitching their clothes, keeping a lawn to
In the “final disposition”, the Supreme Court stalled their decision as Celia’s execution date grew near (123). Rather than fair trial, the question of her fate was a wholly moral dilemma (123). The author concludes that “Celia’s trial demonstrates that gender … was a significant factor in shaping slave law” (141). Because of her identity, Celia would not be given a fair trial, but rather, a performance by the judge. Ignoring her pleas of defense would discourage rebellion from other slaves and keep southern slave-owners in power. After Celia was found and returned to the jail, she was killed at the gallows (135).
The author uses Celia’s story to raise issues about American slavery as a whole, the book forces the reader to acknowledge the extenuating circumstances that slavery drove its victims to doing actions that were unthinkable otherwise. The book also showed how the meaning of crime was confusing, it was terrible being a female slave that had no rights to her own body.
Celia, a Slave is a true story of a fourteen-year-old female slave purchased from Audrain County, Missouri by a wealthy, middle-aged, widowed, landowner named Robert Newsom from Callaway County, Missouri. Celia was the first woman of five slaves Newsom owned. She was purchased to take the place of Newsom’s late wife. In 1855, Celia was charged with killing her master after being continuously raped by him for several years. In Melton McLaurin’s Celia, A Slave, McLaurin exemplifies the oppressive difficulties of a female slave in Missouri in the 1850s.
The book Celia, a Slave by Melton Alonza McLaurin provides a critical insight into one of the pivotal points in the history of the American slavery: the trial of a young African American slave who had the courage to stand up against abuse but was executed by her master. McLaurin does not attempt to romanticize the story and instead strives to show the realities of the time when slaves were treated as commodities, deprived not only of their freedom but also of dignity and ethical treatment. The book Celia, a Slave by McLaurin is a good piece of historical writing that empowers to reader to live through the hardships of slaves, to learn more about the society based on slavery, and to ultimately gain deeper appreciation for racial and ethnic diversity that the American nation currently has.
Unlike agricultural work non-agricultural work was based on gender and age. As a non-agricultural worker you had more close encounters with your slaveholders, this can be both beneficial and not beneficial. With men who had non-agricultural jobs they were artisans. Their jobs consisted of blacksmiths, brickmakers, boatmen and other various jobs. With women they had the jobs like cleaning, feeding, and caring for the slaveholder’s children. Some women were personal slaves to the slaveholders ad did various jobs that comforted the slaveholders. Although working in the house was viewed at as a privilege there were some disadvantages to it especially for the women that worked in the house. These women were open up to being sexually abused by their slaveholders. Although there were disadvantages being a nonagricultural slave had its benefits. Those who had the skills to stay in their slaveholders home had the privilege of running errands, and going on trips with their slaveholders. The house tasks were not only handed out by gender but also by age. (D. R. Berry 2007) Older women would be given the job as a nurse, cooks, and tended to the kids. At the Kelvin Plantation Postell had two elderly men on his plantation that he gave the job of gardening those men were Old Sam and Old Robin. These slaves were not listed on the slaveholder’s roster for monetary value, but they were on the list of bond people who were on the
Celia was hung in Calloway County, Missouri. During this time in America, it was common for people to go see the execution. Only one witness described the scene as he saw it, “Thus closed one of the most horrible tragedies ever enacted in our county” (135). Celia’s story is important because it shows the life of many slaves in America, the life of being an a African American slave woman. “The events in the last year of Celia’s life, although extraordinarily dramatic, demonstrate the nature of the moral choices individuals faced and indicate that some individuals had great difficulty making them” (143). Celia’s personal story illustrates and exposes the relationship between a slave master and slave woman, a slave man and slave woman, and being a mistress to a slave master while being a slave in antebellum
McLaurin writes about how Celia’s case was to be exploited by northerners who opposed slavery as a push for others to begin to question the institution of slavery as well (p. 81). McLaurin elaborates, “given the indisputable facts of the case, unless delicately directed the trial might lead to the charge that the southern legal structure ignored humanity of the slave and condoned such sexual abuse and exploitation,” (p. 81). With this statement in can be inferred that Celia was doomed from the start of her indictment and trial, for if she was found innocent on the means of self-defense, this could disrupt the entirety of southern wealth based on slave ownership. Even though looking through a twenty-first century angle, it can be seen that Celia would have a valid case by today’s standard so it is easy to see that it was not possible for Celia or any other slave in Celia’s situation to have a fair trial in the times of 1850’s laws and societal standards. This idea is represented by the statement, “the arguments if the defense threatened not only the social assumptions under which slavery operated but the economics of slavery as well,” (p.
The author also describes the involuntary tasks throughout the book of enslaved women. While Margaret was away, Sarah, the main cook, oversaw the household chores and servants so no one would be later punished if their jobs were noticeably unfinished (Butler 144). Enslaved women worked in the domestic sphere because they were as natural caretakers. They were deemed valuable because of their gender, able to produce children that would later become slaves. “‘ ‘Cause of Carrie and me, he’s one nigger, richer’” (Butler 161). Black women were also victims of abuse by their masters. A mistress could yell or whip them as they pleased, but the master could rape them. The women on plantations had to endure all forms of violence because of how little their power was in the hierarchy. Dana also began to realize there were consequences more inhumane than a whipping, “he could do anything he wanted to me.
This was a vast problem for all females of this time, because even their body, technically, was not owned by them. In an article adopted by the Senate and Assembly of the State of New York it declares, “the act of marriage either ended a woman’s independent existence or transferred control of her life from her father to her husband” (Property Act of 1848). It was commonplace for women to be treated as if they were property and not as human beings. They did not have the rights to their inheritances. Anything left to a woman went straight to the husband, leaving the wife with no control over how it was used or spent. Due to this fact, the value of a soon-to-be bride was often determined by their likelihood to inherit significant property from their fathers. Also, even a married woman was not able to own here own land. Any acquisition of property had to be placed under the husband’s name, leaving women unable to purchase land without their husband being present to provide his signature. Women of this time were not able to sign any contracts without the presence of their husband. A girl pretty much signed her life away as soon as she got married. During the 1800’s, it was seldom acceptable for a woman to get a divorce. Should a woman have run away from an unhappy or abusive marriage, they were captured by the law and punished. It was not until 1891 that they stopped capturing and punishing women for fleeing. If a woman did work while she was married, she was forbidden to keep her income. Should a widow inherit the dower rights of their husband in the absence of a will, they were not even allowed to control the assets. Very few females were anything more than housewives and mothers. They were not encouraged to acquire a degree or seek professional
Historically, legal and social traditions in the United States have permitted and supported the abuse of women and children by the male head of household. This historical phenomenon helps explain why women are the primary victims of domestic violence. In this country, civil rights and legal responsibilities were first granted to free, property-owning men. Wives, children, and slaves were considered "chattel" or personal property of male citizens who were held responsible for their public behavior.
A just crime was committed out of hopelessness by a 19-year-old slave named Celia who had been a victim of her master’s constant sexual abuse since the age of fourteen, murdered her master Robert Newsom. Unfortunately it happen in the midst of turbulent political times because of the slavery struggles in the neighboring state, this was one of the many factors that influenced the outcome of Celia’s trial, which did not seem to be in her favor, for at the time slaves were seen as nothing more than property, so in order to rule in Celia’s favor they would have to recognize them as people, which would have raised significant questions about the right of slaves to fight back against their owners abuse. McLaurin provides a great insight into the hardships faced by slaves, especially females to whom being raped was a reality and why the ruling against Celia and her execution came as no surprise.
Unlike slaves, indentured servants could look forward to a release from bondage, assuming they survived their period of labor, servants would receive a payment known as “freedom dues” and become free members of society. Owning land gave the men in America a sense of control over their own labor and, in most colonies, the right to vote. The Virginia colony avidly promoted the immigration of women. The vast majority of women who emigrated to the region became indentured servants. In the English colonies, a married woman possessed certain rights before the law, including a claim to “dower rights” of one-third of her husband’s property in the vent that he died before she did. Widows and women who never married took advantage of their legal status as a woman alone to make contracts and conduct business. The Puritans hoped to establish a society based on the lives of the early Christian saints. (178
During slavery, slave women were forced into dual exploitation: as laborers and sexual partners. Their physical labor and their sexual favors belonged to their male masters. Slaves had no legal right to refuse advances from their masters, since legally the concept of raping did not exist. A female slave was frequently used by her owner for his sexual and recreational pleasure. This sexual privilege was a hierarchical right that spilled over to the slave owner's neighbors, visitors, and younger sons eager for initiation into the mysteries of sex.
of the husband. In some ways women were even in a worse position than slaves;