Celia, a Slave [B1231]

1991 HCDJ in nice clean condition. Illuminating the moral dilemmas that lie at the heart of a slaveholding society, this book tells the story of a young slave who was sexually exploited by her master and ultimately executed for his murder. Celia was only fourteen years old when she was acquired by John Newsom, an aging widower and one of the most prosperous and respected citizens of Callaway County, Missouri. The pattern of sexual abuse that would mark their entire relationship began almost immediately and continued over the next five years - until Celia struck him fatally with a club. Her act quickly discovered, Celia was brought to trial, found guilty, and hanged.

Melton A. McLaurin uses Celia's story to reveal the tensions that strained the fabric of antebellum southern society. Celia's case demonstrates how one master's abuse of power over a single slave forced whites to make moral decisions about the nature of slavery. McLaurin focuses sharply on the role of gender, exploring the degree to which female slaves were sexually exploited, the conditions that often prevented white women from stopping such abuse, and the inability of male slaves to defend slave women. Setting the case in the context of the 1850s slavery debates, he also probes the manner in which the legal system was used to justify slavery. An important addition to our understanding of the pre-Civil War era, Celia, A Slave is also an intensely compelling narrative of one woman pushed beyond the limits of her endurance by a system that denied her humanity at the most basic level.

From recent-ish Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "As a historical work, I really appreciate the work McLaurin did to piece together the events of this book and situate it within the broader historical context of the time. It's a well done case study of the individual events that took place. I definitely recommend reading it."; "The book is mostly about how law and politics during that time served slave holders and prevented Celia from receiving a fair trial and justice for the wrong she suffered."; "Since this appears to be a formal history aimed at an academic audience, the emotional weight of the events doesn't really come through in the writing. This is not a critique, but something to know for anyone considering this book."