Celia A Slave Professionalism

In our society professionalism is in the core of most occupations. Professionalism leaves the idea most individuals have to be very mindful that their opinion and beliefs do not reach the surface. Although our country and its ideals have been surrounded and created by select people’s beliefs and affect their performance. Celia, A Slave, is an excellent example of this. In Celia, the author states, “personal and political are never totally separate”. This is very true when using Celia as an explanation. In Celia a major theme in the novel was morality. The lawyers had to question their morals when defending Celia. Not only did politics at the time sway or change the lawyer’s opinions on slavery as an institution, but the personal opinions of

the lawyers can change policies. With change all it takes is one person with a different opinion to change the ideal of another until the social norms at the time are changed. The author uses the quote to set the tone of the novel by expressing that political and personal are usually intertwined.
When viewing Celia’s case not only is the time period relevant, but so is the area.

During her short life Celia spent all of it in Missouri. Missouri has a very prominent history with slavery, beginning with the Dred Scott case. The case preceded Celia’s by a couple of years, the case ended with the idea that slaves were not citizens so the law cannot benefit them. Historically Missouri was exempt from the Emancipation Proclamation, slavery was not abolished until 1865. Celia growing up a slave in a state that has defined a slave’s place in the supreme court sets the scene of her case before it was even brought to court. Since most of Missouri’s land is susceptible to agriculture, it did benefit from the supply and demand of slaves. The political, historical and economic components all apply in Celia’s case. The history and politics at the time defined the tone of her trial and the economic elements determined how and why she was in that area in the first place. The aspects also determined how the political system would work in her

favor.
Celia’s legal team challenged the institution of slavery for defending her case as if it was any other case.

During that time period people, especially public figures, that went against the social norms of slavery put their lives at risk. It was not just the defense of trial that challenged slavery, but also their likelihood of helping her escape from the fear of her likely death before the new trial. It was not an easy undertaking for the lawyers to defend her case with how the court would have viewed Celia. The jury of Celia’s case were all white men. All of her jurors all more than likely saw Celia as an item or property instead of an individual. The gender and power dynamics of Celia’s case helped the layers defend her case. The lawyers used the defense that she was a woman who resisted sexual assault so as a woman, regardless of race, should be able to defend herself with support from the law system. This was the main argument that helped Celia’s case. Although since she women, but a woman who was a slave, she had no power. This lack of power did not help her case. Her lack of power is what subjected her to the rape in the first place. Essentially, her defending herself against Newsom was her claiming her power and autonomy

back.
Since elite white men held all the power, they are the ones not only responsible for starting the institution of slavery, but also keeping it alive for as long as it was. With power you can wield it however you like. Since they benefited directly from slavery they had no reason to change it. Not only did white men uphold the institution of slavery but the institution upheld the patriarchy. Since the institution placed someone at the bottom it also had to place someone at the top. The institution of slavery gave the elite whites power and capitol. The one thing that ensures power is money. This money went directly into the white elite’s pockets, so they would virtually be in positions of power. Since it is harder to more across economic class systems they would be the ones in power for years to come.