Description
In this VSA your task is to compare and contrast the relations between women in the lives of Bethany Veney and Celia. Specifically, what aspects of women’s lived experiences united them and which divided them and why?
Specifically, foucs on the relations between enslaved women (as children, women, mothers, and “mammys”) and white women. You might want to consider the varying degrees of control the women had over their own lives, whether enslaved or free. How much independence or control did Newsom’s daughters or the white women in the Veney narrative have within their own lives and families? How much control did Veney or Celia or other enslaved women have? In what ways did Veney and Celia seek to control what happened to them, to shape their own destinies? Were either of them successful or partially successful? Where do we see white/free women assisting or helping (or not helping) enslaved women?
In your essay, please avoid summarizing the narratives but, rather, focus on specific details/moments in the readings to support your claims.
The Narrative of Bethany Veney,
A Slave Woman:
Electronic Edition.
Celia, A Slave, Trial (1855)
by Douglas O. Linder (2011)
Sample Solution
