Melton McLaurin in the book Celia, a Slave, offers a detailed description of the life of a female slave, Cecilia in Calloway County, Missouri. She was purchased as a slave at the tender age of 14 in 1850. Celia the slave kills her master, Robert Newsome and burns his body in her fireplace. The crime was of such a great magnitude and historical significance considering the tumultuous period it was for antebellum America. There was an ongoing struggle in the neighboring state of Kansas on whether it would be added to the union as a Free State or a Slave State. McLaurin is keen on describing the entire trial process and how it was affected by the political climate of the time. Lessons on slavery can be well drawn from the experiences of Cecilia as well as general insights on the antebellum period.
The overriding theme in the book, “Celia, a Slave” is moral ambiguity. This is in terms of the views that people hold in regards to slavery and sexual oppression. The ambiguity is, therefore, a result of the acceptable practice of owning people as chattels in the Missouri State and the frowning upon of sexual oppression by the same people. The Missourians frown upon sexual relations between slaves and their masters but there is no provision in the law that protects the female slaves from such oppression. Free females are however, protected by the law against any form of sexual exploitation.
Celia is first exploited sexually by her master the very day she was purchased on their journey home when her master, Robert rapes her (McLaurin 118). McLaurin notes that Robert was still healthy at age sixty and because he was widowed he was in need of a sexual partner, he thus speculates that Robert acquired Celia for that purpose. It would have been unacceptable for him, to openly have Celia as his sexual slave and so she was assigned the role of a household cook. She is then granted special treatment by having her own cabin that was not far from the family’s house. This was in contrast to the conditions of the other slaves also owned by Robert who lived in very small quarters with little privacy. This kind of treatment might have seemed like a privilege for a slave but a closer examination reveals it was an enabling factor for Robert Newsom’s continued sexual demands on the girl (McLaurin 12). Having her in a cabin of her own near the family home made his night visits quite convenient because of the proximity and privacy. Celia ends up giving birth to two children fathered by her master even that does not end the demands for sex by her master. She had no right over her sexuality or reproductive abilities because when she becomes pregnant for the third time and tries to stop sexual advancement based on it, the master does not listen and insists he would go to her house that evening (McLaurin 28-9).
It was on that very night that when Robert showed up at Celia’s cabin that he met his death. Celia tried to resist him physically and hit him on the head with a tree branch and accidently killed him. For fear of the consequences that would follow, she decides to get rid of the evidence by burning his body in her fireplace (McLaurin 31). Celia had been under pressure to end the sexual involvement with her master because of her relationship with a fellow slave, George. Upon interrogation, George denies any involvement in the master’s disappearance and confirms Celia’s involvement. This was such a huge betrayal. George, being a slave had little freedom or control over his own life and knew that was the case for Celia as well and was irrational in making such a demand on Celia. Celia admitted to killing her master but stated that her intention was to harm Robert as a self-defense mechanism against sexual harassment (McLaurin 43). The law for slaveholding states allowed the slaves to use force to stop threats against their lives and it was based on this that Celia’s defense team approached the case. This was however not upheld in the ruling, in fact the judge and the state prosecution made the work of the defense very difficult. After the ruling that Celia’s defense team found unfair, they applied for an appeal, which was denied by the same judge. They sought further intervention at the Supreme Court, but the death sentence was still upheld and Celia was executed on December 21, 1855 (McLaurin 113).
Historically, the book offers important insights on the role that gender and racial oppression played in rendering enslaved women powerlessness in fighting against sexual oppression. It also shows the role of the law through courts in resolving the moral ambiguities brought about by slavery. It was the court rulings that would help in alleviating the crisis that the southerners faced when confronted with certain realities of slavery. The limitations of the law in dealing with such ambiguities in dealing with such ambiguity is also brought out in the book when one of the witnesses of Cecilia’s execution commented that the execution marked the end of one of the greatest tragedies they had ever experienced as a country ( McLaurin 114). Again, the personal story that gives a face and identity of a slave appeals for empathy with the plight of slaves in this modern era. Today, many of us as students are detached from the subject of slavery and this book as essential tool in creating the picture of slave trade in the context that it took place.
Despite the detailed manner in which McLaurin tells the story, the book has more of speculations than factual information. For example, his discussion of the whites’ involvement in slave debates and explanations for motives of various actors in the book are educational guesses. Generally, the book reveals how the abuse of power by one master over his slave presents a moral dilemma and the whites have to make a moral decision concerning the nature of slaves. Despite existing state law that allows women to use force to defend their dignity, the interests of the whites were upheld by the court. This brings to play the role that was played by racial prejudice and state institutions in perpetuating slavery.
