African American History

Robert Newsom was a well established slave owner in Callaway Country, Missouri. He owned five male slaves, and a young female slave named Cecilia, who he acquired later on in years. She was not brought to the farm for slave labor, but for the sole purpose of giving sexual favors to her master. It was thought to say that she took the place of his late wife of one year. This did not please his two daughters at all, but being women themselves, it was not there place to say anything.

After many years of this ongoing sexual abuse Cecilia’s mind was psychologically destroyed. She had bared two illegitimate child by the young age of nineteen. Cecilia also found the love of her life George, but he refused to be with her if she cont

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Since they were women they did not have all the rights and freedoms of men, therefore Newsom’s daughter were expected to obey there father without question.

In conclusion, I think Cecilia was killed to set an example to all slaves, that the white man was powerful, and slaves could not protect themselves against this power. To avoid punishment himself, he told the family everything he knew about the murder. It was unequal and not all people were given fair trials, it was just set up to seem like it was. Not only that, it was the powerful, slave owning judge who had the final ruling over the jury in Cecilia’s conviction. These two strikes wade heavy during her trial, and posed major problems in a white mans world. She may have been judge by a court room of her peers, but they were all white, slave owning farmers. One desperate night in an attempt to save her relationship with the love of her life, she avoided Newsom by saying she was sick. They could both stand up to their father and tell him he is wrong for what he was doing and maybe save his life, or stay quite while he continued to rape Cecilia, knowing there is a possibility there father’s life is in danger. The jury just agreed with the judge because of his high economical standings.

Bibliography

The African American Odyssey, Hine D. Newsom was a powerful man who wanted to establish that he was the boss, still came to her cottage, when he forced himself on Cecilia she beat him over the head till he died. The court fund no reason for her to defend herself.

Common topics in this essay:
Cecelia Slave, Country Missouri, Robert Newsom, , River Jersey, robert newsom, University Press, Slave Narratives/, master self defense, slave named cecilia, accurate depiction, book written, slave owning, love life, nineteenth century, cecilia found, cecilias life, social issues, black slave,

Approximate Word count = 994
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

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