Helpful Score: 3
This book not only gives an account of a slave put on trial for the murder of her owner but also gives you a history of the times. The Dred Scott decision, The Missouri Compromise,and the rights enslaved blacks or lack of. I found the book to be informative and also providing notes of reference for expanded reading. One of the books it mentions is The Plantation Mistess which I have available.
Helpful Score: 1
This is a most unusual book, based on a true story of a slave woman, Celia, who takes revenge on her cruel master, and the ensuing trial.
Helpful Score: 1
I just finished reading this book, and I thought it was very good. I've read a few slave narratives before, but this was a fascinating departure from that. It focuses on the trial of a 19-year-old slave accused of murdering her master in Missouri. It explores the politics of slavery (Kansas was being fought over by pro- and anti-slavery groups at the time), as well as the powerlessness of women, especially slave women, during this period. It was a bit slow reading at first, but once it got to the crime and the trial, I was hooked. It was quite readable for a scholarly work, and was brief enough that it kept my attention.
