Celia, A Slave Trial By Douglas Linder

In the summer of 1855, a slave named Celia committed a crime that would test the laws and precedents placed on slaves in Missouri during this time period. Celia was only fourteen when purchased by a slave owner, Robert Newsom in 1850. Five years after being purchased, she murdered her owner in self-defense because he tried to rape her. Throughout the 1800’s, slaves had few rights, if any at all. Celia, A Slave brings up many questions about these rights because of the controversy surrounding a black woman and her white owner. Many of these questions were also sparked because of the brutal crime Celia committed.

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.

Melton McLaurin’s book Celia, A Slave is the account of the trial, conviction, and execution of a female slave for the murder of her “master” Robert Newsom in 1855. The author uses evidence compiled through studying documents from Callaway County, Missouri and the surrounding area during the middle of the Nineteenth Century. Although much of what can be determine about this event is merely speculation, McLaurin proposes arguments for the different motives that contribute to the way in which many of the events unfold. Now throughout the book the “main characters”, being Celia, her lawyer Jameson, and the judge William Hall, are all faced with moral decisions that affect the lives of two different people.

his mistress, Celia was soon purchased. At the age of 14, she became a white man’s sexual

In a time period when women were considered inferior, as were blacks, it was unimaginable the horrors a black woman in the south had to endure during this period. African women were slaves and subject to the many horrors that come along with being in bondage, but because they were also women, they were subject to the cruelties of men who look down on women as inferior simply because of their sex. The sexual exploitation of these females often lead to the women fathering children of their white masters. Black women were also prohibited from defending themselves against any type of abuse, including sexual, at the hands of white men. If a slave attempted to defend herself she was often subjected to further beatings from the master. The black female was forced into sexual relationships for the slave master’s pleasure and profit. By doing this it was the slave owner ways of helping his slave population grow.

Released in 1993, Celia, A Slave was written as a true story of a young slaved girl who broke some of the most unbreakable of the rules that applied to slaves which took more abuse than most of her peers. The work as a whole

Slavery was common in the eighteenth century. Slaves were seen as property, as they were taken from their native land and forced into long hours of labor. The experience was traumatic for both black men and black women. They were physically and mentally abused by slave owners, dehumanized by the system, and ultimately denied their fundamental rights to a favorable American life. Although African men and women were both subjected to the same enslavement, men and women had different experiences in slavery based on their gender. A male perspective can be seen in, My Bondage and My Freedom by Frederick Douglass. A female perspective is shared in Harriet Jacobs’ narrative titled, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Upon reading both of the viewpoints provided, along with outside research, one can infer that women had it worse.

Harriet Jacobs wrote, “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” using the pseudonym Linda Brent, and is among the most well-read female slave narratives in American history. Jacobs faces challenges as both a slave and as a mother. She was exposed to discrimination in numerous fronts including race, gender, and intelligence. Jacobs also appeals to the audience about the sexual harassment and abuse she encountered as well as her escape. Her story also presents the effectiveness of her spirit through fighting racism and showing the importance of women in the community.

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 the 19th century, men and women are being expressed as issues in the era. In Celia A, Slave, the author McLaurin is giving us readers the idea of how men and women dies of innocence from trying to get their issues noticed and heard, such as the slave Celia. Celia A, Slave, is an excellent frame of work of remarkable events that happens in the American History. Celia is purchased by Robert Newsom in 1850. Young Celia only fourteen at time came from Audrain County to her new home, Callaway County. Now, Celia is the property of Robert Newsom; she is training to be a cook in the Newsom’s household. Unfortunately, Celia duties are more than just a cook. McLaurin is unknown if Celia was a slave before being the property of Robert Newsom. “The

In Celia, a Slave, written by Melton A. McLaurin, the relationships of race, gender, sexuality, power, law, and slavery in the antebellum South is revealed by Celia’s case. In antebellum South, many things dictated a person’s worth, but the race of a person was the number one factor. If a person was of a race other than Caucasian, such as being Black, then he or she would live in the United States as one of two classifications: slave or freed slave. Of these two classifications, both were thought as being subpar humans when compared to white citizens. Due to these beliefs regarding Blacks, slave and free, Blacks themselves were unable to protect themselves from slave masters and in most legal standings (McLaurin 137). This means that Blacks did not have the same citizenship as white people because a slave was not a citizen in the eyes of the law but the human property of his or her master. Gender is the second idea that dictated a person’s worth and character. Males, white particularly, always held more power and sexual control over the women of the antebellum South. White women, when married, became the legal property of her husband (139). Even if a woman was not married, then she was still considered the property of her father and under his protection until she was given away. For example, Virginia Waynescot and Mary Newsome both lived with their father, Robert Newsome (10-11). By living with their father, the two daughters basically handed over their power because Robert

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

Celia, a Slave is the epitome of the relationship between slaves and their owners and also the slaves and other whites in the 1850’s. This is based on her interactions with her owner Robert Newsom and her reactions mainly with the community involved in her court case. These relationships affected more so the women slaves rather than the men slaves because of their weaker nature as perceived by the sexual differences of the time period between men and women in general. Slavery is questioned by the morals of the Northerners and some Southerners though it is common in the South so most Southerners reinforce the ideas of slavery with their own morals, believing slaves as meaningless because of their difference.

When you have slaves that is showing people the amount of wealth you have. The slave owner that purchased Celia Robert Newsom already owned five. “While it is possible that Newsom harbored some moral ambiguity about slave ownership, it is far more likely that he regarded it as a fitting reward for his years of labor, an indication of the social status he achieved through his own efforts” (McLaurin 8) When Celia enters the Newsom farm at the age of fourteen she is raped by her master on the way to the house. It is showed that he purchases her after the passing of his wife. One of the lines in the book says “ a healthy sixty years of age, Newsom needed more than a hostess…he requires a sexual partner.” (McLaurin 18) So people won’t have suspicions on what’s

Most commonly slave narratives were written by men compared to women, primarily focused on the physical pain and endurance they experienced. Narratives that were written by men included descriptions of whippings along with other punishments that were known to deprive male slaves of their masculinity. Even though both men and women were beaten, starved and forced to work in the fields, women slaves suffered horrible mental abuse such as sexual harassment and the loss of their children. Usually, one of the central themes of a slave narrative is violence which is present in both of these books however in slightly different ways. Even though the main motif in the Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl is not violence, violence is still portrayed periodically throughout. For example, Linda heard other slaves not only being whipped but also being burned or frozen to death. The physiological, mental and emotional abuse that slaves experienced was not always fully illustrated in narratives like physical abuse was, however in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl it is a consistent theme.