Introduction Paragraph

      Too often when people make a decision, their choice is affected by what they favor, and what they dislike more. Celia, a slave was trialled for the murder of her master Robert Newsom. Newsom had bought Celia, in the summer of 1850, brought her back to his farm in Missouri, and raped her. Over the next five years, Newsom would constantly rape Celia. Between 1851 and 1855, Celia had two children, the second one was Newsom's son. During in either February or early March 1855, Celia became pregnant. with another slave's child who she loved; George. Despite the effort Celia could not stop Newsom from assaulting her while she was pregnant. June 23, 1855 Newsom came into Celia's cabin and attempted to rape her again, and in defense Celia grabbed a stick and hit him hard on the head twice, killing him. Celia later admitted to killed Newsom. She was trialled, and found guilty for murdering Robert Newsom. During Celia's trial, Judge Hall made it impossible for Celia to be found not guilty, holding that the Missouri rape law did not apply to slaves, who were considered the property of their master. This put Celia at a bigger disadvantage than she already had. Since Celia was pregnant and a pregnant woman couldn't be executed under the Missouri law, Celia's hanging was scheduled for November 16, 1855. After giving birth to a still-born, Celia was helped to escape on November 11, 1855 and returned after the original execution date passed. On December 21, 1855 Celia was finally hung for her crime. Discrimination of race can often lead to an unfair trials, like Celia's, lowering the chances of African Americans being found not guilty. Often this makes the defendant guilty; no matter the evidence proving other wise, because of his or her race.