Celia, A Slave, By Melton Mclaurin

Supporters of slavery often pointed to the bible as an advocate for slavery. Nowhere did Jesus say that slavery was inhumane, cruel, or otherwise immoral. In fact the bible even mentions that it is a slave’s duty to serve their master. Those in favor of slavery interpreted this as favoring their cause. For those who were religious, Christianity gave strong reasoning for why

The theme of Celia, A Slave to me is exploitation and slavery. In the time period that this book had taken place black slave woman were left alone to deal with the sexual abuse from not only their masters and their family members but other male slaves as well. Celia suffered from molestation from her master Robert for years until she had enough and decided to defend herself, which led to the death of Robert. After everyone found out what she had done she was put on trial on October 9th 1855. Because of the Missouri Slave Law, which states slaves cannot testify against their masters, Celia could not testify during her trial. Celia had made the claim that the death of Robert Newsom was self-defense and she never meant to kill him. But being that no one sympathized for her and there was no third party there to witness these claims, it was impossible for her to prove herself. The Missouri Slave Law allows slaves to defend themselves against their masters if their lives are in danger, but the law was silent when it came to slave woman defending themselves from sexual abuse. “While acknowledging that slave woman were used by masters for sexual favors, state studies of slavery, including Missouri’s fail to record charges against whites for rape of a female slave” (114). These laws were spread all

In “Domestic Slavery,” Francis Wayland makes the case for the theological prohibition, and so general abolition, of racial slavery. His particular thesis is most apparent in his conclusion, where he claims that “the Christian religion not only forbids slavery, but that it also provides the only method in which, after it has been established, it may be abolished, and that with the entire safety and benefit to both parties” (197). Wayland’s argument therefore has two burdens: first, to show how Christianity establishes a prohibition against slavery; and second, to show how Christianity provides the peaceful means of abolishing the already existing and entrenched system of racial slavery. The innovation of Wayland’s argument is how the first claim is linked to the second.

Melton McLaurin vividly describes the life of a sexually abused slave who fought back in the non-fictional memoir titled Celia, A Slave. As the story began, the 1800s were impassioned with one civil disagreement between two sides of the United States—whether the nation should legally end or perpetuate human enslavement (16). Slavery was particularly and heavily supported by the citizens of the Calloway County, the home of Robert Newsom (19). The proof of increased crop production through slave labor convinced Newsom to begin his investment in black slaves (20). Having an increased number of farmhands allowed Newsom more time for relaxation and a higher social status. Soon, after understanding the ease of obtaining human property, Newsom

Flores, Kimberly History 1218 11/29/2017 Celia, a Slave In the book titled Celia, a Slave, written by Melton A. McLaurin, the story of a young slave woman is narrated. Celia had been bought at the age of fourteen by a male slaveholder named Robert Newsom. Newsom purchased Celia with the intention to “purchase a replacement for his wife” (18). Newsom’s wife had passed away a few years earlier, so “he required a sexual partner” (18). Throughout her stay at the Newsom household, Robert Newsom consistently raped and sexually exploited Celia. Celia’s lover, George, gave her an ultimatum saying that if she did not stop having intercourse with Newsom, George would leave her. Stricken with anxiety over possibly losing her lover and determined to stop Newsom’s behavior, Celia beat Newsom to death and burned his body in the fireplace. Celia went to trial, was convicted guilty for the murder of Robert Newsom, and was sentenced to death. Celia, being both a woman and a slave, had to endure twice the amount of hardships in an era controlled by “the sexual politics of slavery,” which was characterized by the exploitation of slaves both financially and sexually, unfair power dynamics, and little legal recourse.

In 1850, 60-year-old Robert Newsom, a farmer, journeying forty miles from his home in Callaway County, Missouri to neighboring Audrain County to purchase a slave. Newsom was the leader of a substantial and complex family unit that incorporated a few of his developed youngsters, grandchildren, and five oppressed young men and men. His wife had kicked the bucket a couple of years prior, a thought that might have impacted his choice to buy a female slave, a fourteen-year-old young lady named Celia. From the primary day, Newsom regarded Celia as his mistress. Confirmation given under the steady gaze of the Missouri Supreme Court in 1855 shows that Newsom assaulted Celia interestingly on the voyage home from the slave market. He introduced her in

Melton McLaurin wrote the book Celia: A Slave in an attempt to inform others about the sufferings and injustices that many slaves endured over the course of time that slavery prevailed. Celia was a slave who was bought in 1850 by a man named Robert Newsom, who began raping her

“Not only did slaves believe that they would be chosen by the Lord, there is evidence that many of them felt their owners would be denied salvation” (34). Levine claimed that the slaves uses their beliefs and religion as a “means of escape and opposition” because it gave them a “serious alternative to the societal system created by southern slaveholders” (54.)

Chattel slavery is probably the worst large-scale event which happened in America and has left deep scars still visible today. In the early 1800s those for or against slavery expressed their reason and opinion through various texts, which could be mass printed and affect a wide area. The book “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass,” by Frederick Douglass, discusses the impact of Christianity, through the bible. However, Douglass claims there to be two types of Christianity; the one interpreted directly and morally, and the ones white slaveholders used to justify their actions.

In the 1850s there were slave debates about how whites were forced to make daily moral decisions about slavery. Celia’s case actually demonstrates how Newsom’s abuse of power over a single slave obligated whites to make moral decisions about the nature of slavery. Moral decision making is usually made with ethnical motives in mind, with the help of distinction between right and wrong by each individual person.

In the book Celia, A Slave by Melton A. McLaurin, a slave woman all alone has to cope with a master who is always making her have sex with him. Newson, the master, fathered two children with her. When Celia kills her master, the man she loved turned against her, and she went on trial for Newson’s murder.

The Importance of Religion to American Slaves Whether one notices or not, each person has the right to make choices concerning his or her life. Being able to make these decisions is a God-given right that

“The catholic church is the only thing that frees a man from degrading slavery of being a child of his age”, which was once said by G.K.Chesterton. In “Incidents in the life of a slave girl’’ Harriet Jacobs talks about the life of a slave in church and how it amuses the slaves and make them feel somewhat free. She also brings up that the the slave owners uses religion as an advantage to control the slaves more. The relationship between slavery and the church is that the whites used the church to trick the slaves that it is a sin to disobey their masters and slaves used the church to find their happiness and freedom away from slavery.

The book Celia A Slave Melton McLaurin is telling us what happened to a slave owner and a slave that he brought. This story goes into details on the day of June 23,1855 about how a female slave that murdered her master and how she tried to cover it up. This story took place not far from Jefferson City in Calloway Country here in Missouri when around this time there were still debates over what state is going to be free and what states is going to be a slave one. As you’re reading the book you will see how race relations of that period was very … McLaurin talks in great details about the trail, the political climate of the time of the trail, and the experiences of a slave told in Celia view, and the antebellum time period.

Celia, a slave tells an impacting story set in the 1800s in Callaway County, Missouri, where a young slave girl’s purpose in life was initiated by excruciating brutality and consuming emotional damage, deep enough to crush every last bit of hope in just about anyone. In a time where morality