Slavery left an impact on history and has helped shape modern America. Before the Civil War the United States was thrown into chaos because of a female slave named Celia. This essay will show how the tragic story of Celia: A Slave by Melton A. McLaurin emphasizes the social, political and sexual ramifications of slavery by examining the social position of black and white women, by exploring Celia’s murder trail and by considering the lack of moral in the sexual exploitation of slave women. The story of Celia: A Slave brings to light the lack of moral in the South and forces the people to seriously consider the consequences of slavery. White women during the 1800’s held very few rights and black women, especially black slave women held none.
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And as a slave, fighting back in an attempt to protect yourself from a master can bring disastrous consequences. In Celia: A Slave, Celia has been raped by her master for over four years, finally fed up with the situation she pleads with Newsom to stop the sexual assaults, but her pleads fall on deaf ears. As she attempts to protect herself she ends up killing Newsom and she is quickly taken to court and found guilty. Celia was not considered a woman in the legal sense, she was property and even if she has been a white woman, they lacked political power and most basic rights during that time. When it came to the rape of a slave it was the slave owner who was allowed to sue the rapist for the trespass on his property. The owner himself could not be accused of trespassing on their own property. The rape of a slave was not seen as right or wrong, it was seen as an offense towards another person. “Celia’s case demonstrates how difficult an undertaking this was…The female slave’s lack of a legal protection against rape illustrates the society’s preference for sentiment rather than law…The law was also used to create the illusion that slaves possessed certain human rights and thus to assuage the conscience of white society,” but the reality is that slaves held no rights and no matter how hard Celia’s fought there was no way to win. The only victory of the case was that it managed to change …show more content…
The Civil War was imminent but what pushed America over the edge was a female slave named Celia. This essay explores the tragic story of Celia: A Slave written by Melton A. McLaurin by examining the social position of black and white women, by exploring Celia’s murder trail and by considering the lack of moral in the sexual exploitation of slave women. Celia: A Slave shows how warped the moral in the South was during that time and how in the end they were forced to face the dire consequences of their lack of
And as a slave, fighting back in an attempt to protect yourself from a master can bring disastrous consequences. In Celia: A Slave, Celia has been raped by her master for over four years, finally fed up with the situation she pleads with Newsom to stop the sexual assaults, but her pleads fall on deaf ears. As she attempts to protect herself she ends up killing Newsom and she is quickly taken to court and found guilty. Celia was not considered a woman in the legal sense, she was property and even if she has been a white woman, they lacked political power and most basic rights during that time. When it came to the rape of a slave it was the slave owner who was allowed to sue the rapist for the trespass on his property. The owner himself could not be accused of trespassing on their own property. The rape of a slave was not seen as right or wrong, it was seen as an offense towards another person. “Celia’s case demonstrates how difficult an undertaking this was…The female slave’s lack of a legal protection against rape illustrates the society’s preference for sentiment rather than law…The law was also used to create the illusion that slaves possessed certain human rights and thus to assuage the conscience of white society,” but the reality is that slaves held no rights and no matter how hard Celia’s fought there was no way to win. The only victory of the case was that it managed to change …show more content…
The Civil War was imminent but what pushed America over the edge was a female slave named Celia. This essay explores the tragic story of Celia: A Slave written by Melton A. McLaurin by examining the social position of black and white women, by exploring Celia’s murder trail and by considering the lack of moral in the sexual exploitation of slave women. Celia: A Slave shows how warped the moral in the South was during that time and how in the end they were forced to face the dire consequences of their lack of