Were women in the 1850s not valued more than to live life as concubines? Did black men not deserve equal rights just as white men? The Antebellum Era was a pre-Civil War time when white men were positioned as the head of the house, and women and wives below them at their husbands’ service, and inferior to all remained the Negro population. In Celia, A Slave, Celia’s story revealed many difficulties faced by female slaves. Her story conveyed the position of women in Missouri during the 1850s, along with the position of slaves in regards to the resistance of oppression. Her trial gave a strong idea of the rights between masters and slaves. Primarily, Celia’s story reveals many difficulties that were particularly faced by female slaves. In no …show more content…
Slaves were regarded as “human chattel”, to be used for whatever purpose their owners might wish (McLaurin 117). It is evident in Celia’s trial, that conflicts concerning arguments of masters to their slaves, the verdict typically favored the master. Celia later became involved with a fellow slave by the name of George. Celia’s new lover could not bear the thought of his master taking advantage of Celia. George, however, held no legal position to inform Newsome of what he may or may not do. George advised Celia to terminate her relations with Newsome; consequently, if she failed to do so, George would put an end to his own companionship with her. The result of Celia’s confrontation with her master resulted in his death. The only successful form of resistance she ever obtained. Unfortunately, Celia’s life was executed two months later. By her story, a conclusion is drawn that although blacks had rights, they remained inferior to those of white males. Anything the superior head of the house desired from their chattel was received. Infamous treatment of slaves, such that as Celia’s, remained in the favor of white males. Any crime committed upon the whites by blacks, regardless of motives, predominantly went in the whites’ favor. Concluding the fact that slaves were hardly in any form of position to resist their
Prior to the Civil War, the young United States of America was in a period of rapid expansion. Hoping to find prosperity in new land acquired by the Louisiana Purchase, Americans ventured westward. Along with this expansion, however, came the increasing tension over slavery. Conflicts arose, and in one particular town, where a slave named Celia was accused of the murder of Robert Newsom, her owner, tested the ambiguous laws and human rights ideals of that age. In “Celia, A Slave,” Melton A. McLaurin identifies the moral dilemmas confronting Americans regarding slaves and conveys how the patriarchal system and “abused” usage of law benefited the powerful and disadvantage those outside of the group, especially people of color. By critically analyzing and cross examining historical events and evidence with records of Celia’s trial, McLaurin offers an enlightening view of the prominent issues of slavery that plagued antebellum southern society.
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.
In times when slavery was abundant, female slaves faced oppression in many ways unthinkable. Collectively, the multitude of injustices changed the way American society functioned. Celia, A Slave tells the truly tragic story of Celia, a young slave girl, and her attempt to resist oppression. Celia was sexually abused and repeatedly taken advantage of by her slave master, Robert Newsom. Eventually, Celia retaliated and murdered Newsom. Though her fight of self-defense was supported by many, Celia was hung as punishment for the crime she had committed.
Slave-owners looked upon the African Americans as lesser people who were in desperate need of support. They were not capable of surviving on their own without white guidance (Boston). Dr. Flint, the master over the plantation where Harriet Jacobs lived showed a great example of paternalism. He cared for Harriet but in a possessive way to which he continuously sought the woman for his personal needs. For Dr. Flint, the slaves he owned should be grateful towards him and be willing to do what he asked with no rebuttal. This wasn’t the case with Harriet. She simply refused him at every chance which only angered the slaveholder. Jacobs resisted the doctor and his paternalistic ways. Harriet Jacobs sheds light onto the self-interest that drives the paternalism displayed by the masters. The slaves were property and who wanted to showcase poorly groomed property? If there was someone visiting, the slaves, except for those within the house, would be hidden away and those who worked within the master’s home would dawn nicer clothes and better meals would be prepared all in a show for the
The case also sheds a light upon the unequal slave treatment that already belittled the black, but oppressed black women even more. Celia’s story about the relationship between her and her slave master, Robert Newson, brought attention to the unequal protection laws for slaves. The story helps illustrate the realities of slave life in America and the personal choices slavery forced upon slaves and slave-owners. The outcome of Celia’s trial was an eye-opener that slavery was definitely inhumane, and help influence the prohibition of
In the North, women, especially colonial wives, had basically no legal rights. They could not vote, sell or buy property, or run their own business. Women in the North also had extensive work responsibilities when it came to housework. Northern society considered slaves less than human beings, and, consequently, did not give slaves any rights that would protect them from cruel treatment. The Southern colonies’ were no different. “Women in Southern society - and Northern society as well - shared a common trait: second-class citizenship”(74). In the South, women could not vote or preach and had very little education. They were instead taught to perfect the skills that could be used around the house such as sewing or gardening. In the South, slaves were branded as savages and inferior and did not possess any rights. Southern slaves possessed even less legal rights than Northern Slaves. Although the colonies had similar social structures, they had different
Although the law states “any woman”, this statute did not apply to female slaves. Slave women were not protected in cases of rape, and in some situations it was not only the master of the slaves but other male slaves who sexually assaulted their female counterparts. Whether the assailant is white or black, women could rarely legally defend themselves. In the majority of states which enacted slavery laws, slaves themselves were referred to as property. Celia was no longer seen as a human being, but rather as a piece of property, and Newsom saw her as nothing more than a
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
Celia, a Slave was a factual interpretation of one isolated incident that depicted common slave fear during the antebellum period of the United States. Melton A. McLaurin, the author, used this account of a young slave woman's struggle through the undeserved hardships of rape and injustice to explain to today's naive society a better depiction of what slavery could have been like. The story of Celia illustrates the root of racial problems Americans still face in their society. Although not nearly as extreme, they continue to live in a white-male dominated culture that looks down upon African-Americans, especially females. McLaurin looks at the views of the time, and speculates the probabilities of this pre - Civil War era, the values of which still pierce daily life in the United States.
The first topic found in these books is the difference in the roles of women and men slaves. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl gives us the women 's point of view, their lifestyle and their slave duties and roles. On the other hand, The Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass shows us the male side of slavery; the duties and role of men slaves and their way of living their situation. Both books state clearly the roles of both men and women slaves. We can easily observe the fact that slaves’ roles were based on their gender, and the different duties they had based on these roles. This gender role idea was based on American society’s idea of assigning roles based only on gender. Slave men’s role was most of the time simple. Their purpose was mainly physical work. In
In Harriet Jacobs Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, the author subjects the reader to a dystopian slave narrative based on a true story of a woman’s struggle for self-identity, self-preservation and freedom. This non-fictional personal account chronicles the journey of Harriet Jacobs (1813-1897) life of servitude and degradation in the state of North Carolina to the shackle-free promise land of liberty in the North. The reoccurring theme throughout that I strive to exploit is how the women’s sphere, known as the Cult of True Womanhood (Domesticity), is a corrupt concept that is full of white bias and privilege that has been compromised by the harsh oppression of slavery’s racial barrier. Women and the female race are falling for man’s
“Line of Color, Sex, and Service: Sexual Coercion in the Early Republic” is a publication that discusses two women, Rachel Davis and Harriet Jacobs. This story explains the lives of both Rachel and Harriet and their relationship between their masters. Rachel, a young white girl around the age of fourteen was an indentured servant who belonged to William and Becky Cress. Harriet, on the other hand, was born an enslaved African American and became the slave of James and Mary Norcom. This publication gives various accounts of their masters mistreating them and how it was dealt with.
During the eighteenth and nineteenth-century, notions of freedom for Black slaves and White women were distinctively different than they are now. Slavery was a form of exploitation of black slaves, whom through enslavement, lost their humanity and freedom, and were subjected to dehumanizing conditions. African women and men were often mistreated through similar ways, especially when induced to labor, they would eventually become a genderless individual in the sight of the master. Despite being considered “genderless” for labor, female slaves suddenly became women who endured sexual violence. Although a white woman was superior to the slaves, she had little power over the household, and was restricted to perform additional actions without the consent of their husbands. The enslaved women’s notion to conceive freedom was different, yet similar to the way enslaved men and white women conceived freedom. Black women during slavery fought to resist oppression in order to gain their freedom by running away, rebel against the slaveholders, or by slowing down work. Although that didn’t guarantee them absolute freedom from slavery, it helped them preserve the autonomy and a bare minimum of their human rights that otherwise, would’ve been taken away from them. Black
Rebekka, Lina, Florens, and Sorrow all experience the unimportant role of females during this time. The four women live in fear for their lives, and are subject to the merciless world filled with men and hierarchy. It does not matter whether you are a slave, free, European, or African. If you are a woman, you are presumed to aid for others, and anything that you want to do or be in life is disregarded. Women are not given the chance to truly live they way that they want to, and are stripped of their right to freedom and an unrestricted
In conclusion, women were considered property and slave holders treated them as they pleased. We come to understand that there was no law that gave protection to female slaves. Harriet Jacob’s narrative shows the true face of how slaveholders treated young female slave. The female slaves were sexually exploited which damaged them physically and psychologically. Furthermore it details how the slave holder violated the most sacred commandment of nature by corrupting the self respect and virtue of the female slave. Harriet Jacob writes this narrative not to ask for pity or to be sympathized but rather to show the white people to be aware of how female slaves constantly faced sexual exploitation which damaged their body and soul.