The Death Of Celia Born

I awoke today with the light streaming into my room and hearing the birds chirping in the distance. As I regained my conscience, I smelled the mold and felt damp room conditions all around me that imprisoned me. It reminded me of what would have happened only in a nightmare. It was only yesterday that Corey, Nurse, Hale and I had gone to help the accused women. So many times I felt that I could win the battle, yet just as many times I could feel the rope slipping through my fingers.

Throughout history the North and South have always bumped heads when it came to slavery; the North saw slavery as a sin and the South did not see anything wrong with it because they grew up with slavery. Throughout the 1800’s slaves had little to no rights, it was not until the Celia Trial when the questioning of these rights came up. In June 23,1855, Celia had committed murder; she killed her Master Robert Newsom. Because of the crime that she had committed, this tested the laws placed on slaves in Missouri at the time. The policies that passed through affected Celia Trial, at the same time there were some policies that they could use in her advantage.

Celia, A Slave was written by a man named Melton A. McLaurin in 1999. Melton has written many books about his lifelong interests of racism. In fact he even received the Lillian Smith award for his book Separate Pasts: Growing Up in the Segregated South and a notable book selection award from the New York Times for Celia, A Slave. Melton says “The case of Celia A slave reminds us that the personal and the political are never totally separate entities” (xiv). Celia, A Slave is about fourteen year old girl who became the property of a man named Robert Newsom. Robert was a Missouri farmer who repeatedly molested Celia. Regardless of her horrible experience with men, Celia still fell in love with a man named George, who was also a slave of

Celia Cruz born Ursula Hilaria Celia Caridad Cruz Alfonso, a female Cuban singer born October 21, 1925 in Havana Cuba was one of the most influential figures in Latin music. She started her musical career in her native country in the late 1940’s early 1950’s performing for various Cuban radio shows and traveling with the orchestra accompanying the dancing group “Las Mulatas del Fuego.” Her big break came in 1950 when she joined “La Sonora Matancera” the most famous orchestra in Cuba at the time. Celia traveled all over Latin America in the 1950’s with “La Sonora” gaining great success in countries like Venezuela and Mexico. She recorded various albums with the orchestra and gained great popularity during that time with songs like “Caramelo”, “Burundanga”, and

Celia was a slave from Missouri who was purchased at the age of 14 by one of the most respected members of the county Robert Newsom. Newsom purchased Celia because he needed a replacement for his wife who was deceased. He bought her with the intention of converting her in his concubine.

While the courtroom was relatively small in size, the front of the room featured a table for the prosecution team, along with two separate podiums, stationed just before the judge’s bench. The room also featured a juror’s box; however, no jury was present for the duration of Tran’s court session. To the viewer’s right of the judge’s bench, a team of court officials were seated, while a witness stand was positioned to the viewer’s left of the judge’s bench. Two bailiffs were positioned to both the left and right of the judge’s bench. In the empty juror’s box, additional court officials, including law enforcement officers, were

"Celia, A Slave" is a very controversial story of a young female slave who murdered her master then burned his body on June 23, 1855. This issue took place in Missouri during a period where Kansas has a debate whether the union is a free or slave state. Celia plays a big role in how society views this debate of slavery. Different people have opposing views on slavery and some see the justification on the trial. In this story, it emphasizes a lot in the social, political, and sexual ramification of this dark past in American history.

The book Celia, A Slave is the factual story about a girl that takes place in Calloway County Missouri. Celia was brought to court for the murder of her master and disposing of his body in her fireplace. The author, Melton McLaurin, describes in graphic detail her sexual abuse from her master, Robert Newsome, and events leading up to her court appearance on October 9, 1855. This case came at a conflict time in the American Midwest when new territories were being designated as free or slave states, which made it a nationwide issue and gained the attention of politicians. McLaurin used his historical background to provide an accurate description the trial and the impact slavery had on politics in this period of time.

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.

At Celia’s trial, Jameson mounted a brilliant defense, based on the fact that Celia had the legal right to defend herself from rape. He also managed to use his cross-examinations of prosecution witnesses to prove that Celia had been sexually assaulted by Robert Newsom—an unpleasant fact that most of the witnesses tried to hide. However, the prosecution successfully objected to many of Jameson’s points and witnesses.

The rest of the day passed by, Jayde showed her around and sat with her at lunch. So her worries of a disgusting bathroom disease or being a loner had been for nothing. Jayde, wow, she seemed so quiet but once she started talking she never shut up. She was so bubbly and unbelievably sweet, happy and carefree. It was hard not to be dragged into Jaydes mood, she was like a mirror, and she reflected everything she felt onto you.

“the last name is scratched off.” Without any trace of who it belonged to, Erin felt like she had to personally return it. Following the glimpse of light, she headed towards Hartman Green. Although she hated the moist air and dampness from the rainy night before, she was thankful this time, for every spot of the that the flashes of light had crossed over became dry instantly. As Erin approached the top of the path, she caught sight of who she believed to be Leah. “HEY!” She shouted. Leah disappeared in another beam of light. Beginning to become paranoid, Erin maniacally scoped out all of her surroundings, trying to see where Leah might have gone. She saw nothing. “Something is weird about here too…” She thought, trying to find out what was. After a little while she noticed the inconsistency. What used to be a nice brick red covering the bricks of the bookstore had since bloomed to the shade of a maraschino cherry. “Leah.” She derived. “This has to have something to do with Leah.” Not wanting to lose Leah again, she broke down the path towards Stager, which was unusually empty as well. Once more, she followed the dry path, which was slowly becoming harder and harder to distinguish. “I can’t let her get away this time,” Erin thought. “when the sun passes overhead I will have no guide.” She followed the path all the way up the steps of the bookstore, now searching for the same strawberry-blonde hair she caught a glimpse of earlier. As she entered

From somewhere in the stillness, she felt a soft breeze on her neck and heard a faint whisper in her ear “Lacey....” A trickle of fear ran down her spine as she gave a furtive glance around the room. She was alone, wasn’t she? Were there vagrants in the area? Afraid and needing to hear a human voice, she called out, “Hello? Is anyone here?”

What I’ve observed from Celia’s case and all the readings for this paper is that being a woman is difficult no matter what your status or colour were, in the Antebellum period of the South. Gender dictates how you’ll live, disregarding your position in society. While our society has changed from a rigid patriarchal system of the 19th century, even today, the remnants of patriarchy persists through the way people think. Celia, like most Black slaves of her time, experienced tremendous hardships and finally seek justice through her own hands. There are many examples of female slaves being sexually abused by slave owners and documented instances where the slaves reported it and asked for help. Most often when they do, they asked for women slave owners help. Maybe they thought that these people, as women themselves would understand what they’re experiencing and be sympathetic and empathise because they are bounded by their gender and suffering. A different kind of suffering but still, something they can bond on.

The story of Celia is based on a third person voice to describe the life of Celia. On the first chapter, the author talks a lot of background information about Robert Newsom who is the master of Celia, including when Robert Newsom and his family moved to Missouri, how he used the land to survive and later he became a successful farmer in Callaway County. In addition, the author focus not only on the personality of the characters, he concentrates a lot on the economic and political situation of the states at that time, which assists me to understand the intricate economic issues in the textbook. In the second chapter, the author mentions the situation of Celia in Robert Newsom family to reveal the disquieting situation of female slaves, so