Celia, a Slave.

In 1855 the titular woman was pitted against the state of Missouri in a memorable case
for the murder of her owner, Robert Newsom. The book greatly treats the different aspects of the
court case, one by one, to give a complete and profound insight into the legal proceedings of the
time. It is thus a primary historical source on the legal situation regarding slavery of the Civil War
Antebellum, but also a key social treatise on the relationship between slave and master, man and
woman, and rich and poor.

Since the defendant did confess to the murder, albeit under threat, the guilt of the defendant was
not the main point of the trial, rather it was Celias the final fate that was on the line. In a trial rife
with social and political issues, the prosecution, with the aid of the judge, pushed for a trial rife with
procedural mishaps, making the whole ordeal heavily biased against Celia. But even more upsetting
is the way the judicial handled the closure of the case. As the author points out, the defenses final
strategy was to get the pertinent law of the state of Missouri to be interpreted by the letter, giving
precise instructions for delivery to the jury. The book leads me to believe this stratagem was
attempted in part to get the jury to ignore the slave status of Celia, but rather her status as a woman
first. Unfortunately the judicial system, as represented by the administering judge, refused to
cooperate with the defense, a move that I believe reveals in full the injustice against slaves, and really
anyone, in the court of law.

While I knew that the slave was considered property of the master, it is interesting to see how those
in a position of power were ready and willing to bend the law and to ignore procedure in order to
further their agenda, or to upkeep the social norm, the status quo. This sheds light on the upsetting
and uncomfortable truth that the court was at the time, and some might argue still is, just a political
and personal instrument geared towards the control of the masses through punishment and reward.
And while in this case the victim of this sad fact is a slave woman, the ruling elite could have easily
applied their stratagem to any American without the proper connections, material possessions, or
ideologies. This misuse of the judicial system by the ruling elite, in this case the richest plantation
owners, could have been endemic in the south in the antebellum period.

The key to this whole impasse I think is to be had in the economic system based on slavery that was
present in the south at the time. The reliance of the plantation owners on the cheap labor offered by
slaves was so vital that they themselves were able to see the threat that Free states and slavery bans
posited to their business ventures. This fear would reveal itself true after the war, as the south fell
behind in the race to industrialization that had fueled the civil War for the Union. Without slave
manpower, the second largest economic asset of the US as a whole in the 19 th century, the
agricultural prominence of the South was overshadowed by the industrial might of their Northern
neighbors.

Reading both Celia, a Slave and the historical narrative offered by the course textbook just reiterates
the economic importance of the slave system, beyond what would be its human cost, for the South.
It was however a completely different nuance for Newom, as he had a more human need. The
predicament he got himself and Celia into underlines the different mindset and custom of the mid
19th century, yet is a logical conclusion to be had from the basic assumptions of slavery: as the slave
is the masters property, then he shall do as he pleases with it. Newsom might have been an awful
person from our modern perspective, but he was a man well within the common custom of hhis
times. This is not an attempt by me to justify him, rather it is a way to understand his disinhibition in
the act. And the book does point me in the direction of social status. As stated by the author, a man
would gain social status when acquiring slaves for his agribusiness. Then could it be possible that the
new status provided a responsibility in upholding ones conduct in society, in this case through an