Celia‚ a Slave was a factual interpretation of one isolated incident that depicted common slave fear during the antebellum period of the United States. McLaurin used this account of a young slave woman’s struggle through the undeserved hardships of rape and injustice to explain to today’s naive society a better depiction of what slavery could have been like. The story of Celia illustrates the root of racial problems we still face in our society. Although not nearly as extreme‚ we continue to live
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Celia‚ a Slave is the epitome of the relationship between slaves and their owners and also the slaves and other whites in the 1850’s. This is based on her interactions with her owner Robert Newsom and her reactions mainly with the community involved in her court case. These relationships affected more so the women slaves rather than the men slaves because of their weaker nature as perceived by the sexual differences of the time period between men and women in general. Slavery is questioned by the
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American society believes in known principles‚ namely‚ “life‚ liberty‚ and the pursuit of happiness” (Declaration of Independence). The pursuit of happiness relates to the motif of the American Dream‚ which suggests that the freedom to work for a living leads to success‚ wealth‚ and social mobility. This is closely connected to America’s capitalist economic system‚ which promotes private production of goods and services‚ further propelling the idea that an individual can achieve the Dream if only
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It is really difficult for people in these days to know the truth about the conditions and circumstances in which the slaves lived in. Even though there are many interviews that have been made to try and find out more about what it was like being a slave in those days‚ it is hard to know wither the person is telling the truth or not. When most of the interviews were being made‚ there were still lots of racial feelings towards the African Americans. When an African American was being interviewed
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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
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Life for slaves has been extremely difficult since the beginning of time. During the 1850’s people were just starting to finally realize just how wrong slavery was. If you were a slave‚ your life was extremely difficult. You were treated as if you were an animal rather than a human being. Slaves were generally kidnapped from Africa where they were taken away from their families and stripped of their culture. They were brought over to America and sold by slave traders to plantation and factory owners
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Compromiser‚ generated the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and the Compromise of 1850 in order to maintain the country as a whole. The Missouri Compromise declared Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state. The Compromise of 1850 admitted California as a free state‚ ended slave trade in Washington D.C. and a stronger Fugitive Slave Law passed. In 1833‚ Senator Henry Clay stated‚”…it is impossible that South Carolina ever desired for a moment to become a separate and independent state. Additionally
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Through the late 1700s and early to mid-1800s‚ most slave narratives written were done by men. It was not until 1861 when Harriet Ann Jacobs emerged with the first slave narrative that we got from the viewpoint of a woman. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl‚ is Jacobs’ life story of how she escaped slavery and gained freedom for herself and her children. She detailed her life as a slave and how she hid in her grandmother’s attic for seven years to dodge her master’s avid‚ obsessive lust for her
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The basic plot of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl as an anti-slavery text and the typical plot of the 19th century genre of sentimental fiction are alike in that just as the 19th century genre did‚ Harriet Jacobs made a plea to the Northern‚ white‚ female listeners during a time when "true womanhood" truly meant chastity and virtue. Harriet Jacobs pushes the message that slavery makes it totally impossible for a black woman to live as a virtuous or chaste person. As she supports some of
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treatment of slaves and I was also shocked to notice that the masters had no sympathy or compassion. However‚ this slave Frederick Douglas was a very smart slave who learned and suffered along the way to obtaining his freedom. Something that I find extremely interesting is despite his treatment and the things he observed and experienced‚ he was still able to overcome his life as a slave‚ earned his freedom‚ and on top of that he became an intelligent man who wrote his own experience as a slave. This is
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