Celia, A Slave

Celia, a Slave In the summer of 1855, a slave named Celia committed a crime that would test the laws and precedents placed on slaves in Missouri during this time period. Celia was only fourteen when purchased by a slave owner, Robert Newsom in 1850. Five years after being purchased, she murdered her owner in self-defense because he tried to rape her. Throughout the 1800’s, slaves had few rights, if any at all. Celia, A Slave brings up many questions about these rights because of the controversy surrounding a black woman and her white owner. Many of these questions were also sparked because of the brutal crime Celia committed. One of the many questions brought up while reading this book was the relationship between Celia and her master. Celia’s master, Newsom, bought her in Audrain County in 1850. Audrain County was a neighboring county to Callaway County where Newsom owned a farm and had five other male slaves. Celia was only fourteen years old when she was purchased. On the way back from purchasing Celia, Robert Newsom raped her. This act “established and defined the nature of the relationship between the master and his newly acquired slave” (McLaurin, 24). Newsom showed his dominance over Celia and where her place in his household was and would be for the rest of her life when he committed this wrongful act.
Over the next five years, Celia’s relationship to Robert Newsom intensified with the amount of sexual favors Newsom required of her. The reason Newsom bought Celia was simple, he wanted a replacement for his deceased wife; “what is certain is that Newsom’s reasons for acquiring Celia were different from those that motivated his previous slave purchases…he had set out to purchase a replacement for his wife” (McLaurin, 21). Robert Newsom was lonely after his wife passed away, but it was apparent he did not want to get remarried. Robert was a “prosperous farmer and respected community member” so it was very unlikely that he would have trouble finding a