Celia, a Slave

By Melton A. McLaurin

Book Overview

Originally published in 1991, Celia, a Slave illuminates the moral dilemmas that lie at the heart of a slaveholding society by telling the story of a young slave who was sexually exploited by her enslaver and ultimately executed for his murder. Melton A. McLaurin uses Celia's story to reveal the tensions that strained the fabric of antebellum southern society by focusing on the role of gender and 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.

The 30th anniversary edition includes a new foreword from Daina Ramey Berry and Jennifer L. Morgan. As these two prominent scholars reflect in that foreword, the scholarship on enslaved women has grown exponentially since
Celia was first published. In addition to detailing the "critical mass of gender and slavery scholarship" in a state-of-the-field essay, Berry and Morgan offer their thoughts on how scholars and students might approach Celia's story today in light of three decades of historiography. "Placing Celia in the context of other enslaved women," they conclude, "allows her story to reveal more than it did in 1991."

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0820313521
• ISBN13: 9780820313528
• Release Date: November 1991
• Publisher: University of Georgia Press
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Incontrovertible facts

Thereare many books relating the slavery period. Yet, none as touching as this slim book called Celia. In detail it expalins the triangular relationship master, wife and slave. Then the judicial system is introduced. Full of surprises with an ending difficultto forget. Yes, it is given in College history classes because it really depicts the facts as tehy were.

Read more, learn more, do more.

In this short book, Melton McLaurin has accomplished more than many historians accomplish in hundreds of pages. In this book the reader is drawn into the complicated world of antebellum America. In lucid prose, he simultaneously shows the ideology behind antebellum mastery, the connection between seemingly insignificant individuals and national politics, the hypocritical facade of the justice system, one woman's struggle to live under brutal oppression, and offers a compelling story that has a bit of mystery in it. He accomplishes this monumental task with clarity and transparency despite substantial holes in the documentary evidence. His work is a model to show how historians can write for a popular audience and not oversimplify, nor fictionalize, the past. We cannot forget that America enslaved more than 4 million black people, tortured them, raped them, and stole their wages, then, after "freeing" them, forced them to live in apartheid-like conditions for nearly one hundred years. Every American must read books like Celia to confront their past. Even those who came more recently need to recognize that the wealth and the freedoms of the United States that drew millions to our nation, rests upon the back of four million unvoluntary laborers. Read more, learn more, do more.

The Horrors Of Black Slavery/a world many refuse2 talkabout

This book is recommended.The reading is superb. Theinformation has been researchedby the author, and exposes the cruelties by the white anglo saxonslave owners toward the Early African American people of the time.Many may get techical but Black peoplewho were in this country in those dayswere African Americans but unfortunatelythe term "slave" or "black slave" was labeled to them by racist white americaduring those times. One has to study the past, but many put aside this dark/hatredno light chapter but it has too be studied.This might sound corny but one may notchange the past, but only learn from it,and not commit the same mistakes as AngloAmerica did in those years. The story isabout a young lady, named Celia, who at theage of 19 was put to death by the law for murdering a white man.Celia was hanged.The jury from the looks of things was allwhite. Celia, the young woman out of desperation had killed her owner because she was being constantly molested/raped by him, which occurred severaltimes at the plantation.It was just constant raping accordingto the book.She had several children by her white racist "master".The book is a MUST have for all who really want tooknow about the Slavery years and days. My last comment is thatfor the most part ever book that talks about thistime/era and about this chapter "Slavery" or "African American Slavery" mentions that White Anglo owners always fondled/molested/raped/and funned Black womenand got them pregnant.It is very interesting but... Thank God those racistowners are dead, and gone forever.

Fantastic ... Rewarding

I read this book after a history professor mentioned her casein class. It was not required reading material, but it soundedinteresting. This book was purely based on historical facts, which often leave out a great deal of detail, but the author addresses some possible implications of certain documentable facts within the trial. This book is great, and everyone should read it in order to better understand the "Peculiar Institution" of our nation's past.

A forced read that became a blessing...

I was forced to read this short book in college. As I turned each page, I became more connected to the protagonist, Celia and her struggle to escape the control and degradation emposed on her by her master. This story sheds light on the antebellum South's lifestyle and mentality toward "Negroes" as property versus percentages of persons. A MUST READ, especially for African American youth seeking a personal understanding!