Critical Assessment of Celia, a Slave.
Slavery is undoubtedly one of the most significant issues that shaped .
the development of the United States. It was a core factor in the .
growing tensions between the industrial North and the agricultural .
South. For many years, the population remained relatively passive to .
the question of the righteousness of slavery, but in the years preceding .
the Civil War, anti-slavery alliances grew stronger and the debate over .
slavery raged across the nation. This was a time when the nation itself .
was expanding, and at the heart of the slavery debates was the question .
of whether or not new states would allow slavery. Slavery in the new .
state of Kansas was under heavy debate, and this debate bled over into .
the political scene of Missouri, the slaveholding state in which the .
story of Celia, a Slave takes place. Celia, a Slave is a book written .
by Melton A. McLaurin which details the events surrounding the murder .
trial of Celia, an adolescent slave girl. While telling the story of .
Celias life and tragic end, the story also illustrates the broader .
political backdrop of the era. Melton A. McLaurins book Celia, a Slave .
brings to light the moral questions of slavery which dominated the .
political debates of Antebellum America.
Celia was only fourteen years old when she was purchased by Robert .
Newsom in 1850. Robert Newsom was a well-respected Missouri farmer and .
a healthy sexagenarian who had outlived his wife. Newsom sexually .
abused Celia from the very beginning, starting with a rape on the way .
home from her purchase. Newsom had a cabin specifically constructed for .
Celia behind his home. For five years Newsom abused Celia on a regular .
basis, resulting in at least two children. Celia was also involved in a .
relationship with George, another slave on the farm. George grew tired .
of Celias relations with Newsom and told her that he wanted nothing to .
do with her if she did not tell him to leave her alone.
