She Was Abused In Celia, A Slave

In the 1850s slaves in the south endured extreme hardships, not only from working all day in the fields but also because of the abuse they received from their master. In particular, female slaves were treated more harshly than the male slaves because some of these women were abused and raped by their masters. Celia, A Slave is a book written about a fourteen-year-old slave who was abused by her master, Robert Newsom. Once Celia decided she had had enough she fought back by killing Newsom. While this book is only about Celia, it reveals what many slaves, particularly female slaves, endured and how difficult it was to face their masters without rights. In the 1850s Missouri had contradicting views on white women and slave women. White women were respected and trusted while, “black female slaves were essentially …show more content…
Those who were fortunate enough to have family and friends, could not expect them to be able to take up for them. Fathers and mothers watched helplessly as their children were beaten and abused and could only hope to comfort them when it was all over. However, Celia had no support from family or friends leaving her without anywhere to run in times of need. Situations like Celia’s made relationships with other slaves difficult, because of her many children with her master. As a result, when a male slave, George, started seeing Celia he eventually told her she, “had to stop seeing Newsom or he would not have anything to do with her” (McLaurin, 30). When George found out that Celia had killed their master he ran away in hopes that no one would find him because he knew they would accuse him of being affiliated with Newsom’s death since he was close to Celia. This assumption shows how slaves had no support from anyone including other slaves because they were fearful of their masters and the consequences they would face if they stood up for themselves or each