This is delineated in the procedural rightness of Celia's trial, which gives the appearance that her fundamental human rights were being met, however it conceals the chaotic reality of her sexual abuse and its bearing on her activities. Slavery isn't the main setting in which the "letter of the law" can give the presence of rightness to unscrupulous or unethical conduct, yet it is particularly essential given its broad impacts on American …show more content…
The laws of the time identified that Celia was Robert Newsom's property, and that he was within his rights to do whatever he pleased with her, including rape. Legally, Celia was just observed as a human subject when she was being punished, the enslaved could neither give nor refuse consent, nor offer reasonable resistance, yet they were criminally responsible and