Celia: A Slave, Book Review Example

In Celia, A Slave, author Melton A. McLaurin relates the very sad and disturbing story of Celia, a female African-American slave bought from a slave owner by Robert Newsom who owned hundred of acres of farmland in Missouri which in 1850 was under the jurisdiction of the Missouri Compromise of 1820. Celia was only fourteen years old when Newsom “purchased” her and soon after taking her home, Newsom proceeded to rape her. This act against Celia continued for many years until June 23, 1855 when Celia, tired from being repeatedly raped by Newsom, killed him with a club. Celia was then arrested for murder and stood trial and despite an appeal to the Supreme Court of Missouri, Celia was found guilty and sentenced to hang. She was executed on December 21, 1855 (McLaurin 1-5).

As noted by McLaurin, the significance of the story of Celia is that it helps to illustrate what historian Charles Sellers refers to as the “fundamental moral anxiety” that slavery produced that “lies at the very heart of the institution of slavery” which existed in the American Deep South long before the Civil War (xii-xiii). Thus, McLaurin’s main thesis is that the story of Celia “demonstrates how slavery placed individuals,” both black and white, “in specific situations that forced them to act upon personal decisions” that tested their moral character and beliefs (xiii).

The historical relevance of Celia, A Slave is that it illuminates the atrocities of slavery during a time when African-Americans, even those born in the United States, were treated as second-class citizens without any rights under the law. It also demonstrates the cruelty of the white slave owners against their human property which according to the laws of the time was much like cattle or sheep. As McLaurin notes, the story of Celia “starkly reveals the relationships of race, gender, and power in the antebellum South” (pre-Civil War) and the ways in which “the law was employed to assuage the moral anxiety” that went along with owning slaves and their treatment (xiii-xiv).

As to the types of source materials used by McLaurin to write Celia, A Slave, most of them are primary documents written during the time of Celia’s life or shortly after. For example, McLaurin quotes from such sources as the 1850 Federal Census for Callaway County, Missouri, The History of Callaway County, Missouri (1884), and the historical records of Celia’s trial and execution. McLaurin also uses many secondary sources like Slave Testimony: Two Centuries of Letters, Speeches, Interviews, and Autobiographies (1977) by John W. Blassingame, and Without Consent or Contract: The Rise and Fall of American Slavery (1989) by Robert W. Fogel.

Overall, I found Celia, A Slave to be extremely upsetting, due to the fact that Celia was only defending herself when she killed Newsom who was never arrested for raping Celia because according to the law, Celia was his property, much like a chair or a table. But nonetheless, I truly enjoyed reading this excellent book which is well-researched and filled with facts about the “Old South” and how the institution of slavery helped to bring about the bloodiest domestic conflict in American history–the Civil War. This book also brings to light how terrible it must have been to be a female slave with no rights during a time when African-Americans were mere property and could be treated (and raped) without the perpetrator being held responsible, simply because he was a white man.

Bibliography

Mc Laurin, Melton A. Celia, A Slave: A True Story. New York: Avon Books, 1991