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Celia Slave Trial Essay

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A slave owner from Callaway County, Missouri named Robert Newsome bought a fourteen-year-old slave named Celia. Shortly after the purchase he raped her and would continue to do it for five years. Celia gave birth to two children over time because of these actions. She actually was in love with another slave whose name was George. George wanted her to stop having sex with Newsome and threatened to leave her. Eventually Celia had enough and decided to protect herself with a large stick. On June 23, 1855, Newsome came to Celia’s cabin and demanded sex. Celia refused, which angered him. When he went after her, she got the large stick and clubbed him to death. Although it was an accidental murder, Celia got scared and began to think about what she would do with Newsome’s dead body. She cremated his body in the fire place and hid his bones underneath the cabin. The next day a search party began, led by William Powell, who was a slave holder …show more content…

At the time Kansas was embroiled in a battle to become admitted to the Union as either a slave or free state. Anti slavery and pro slavery factions were sending people to the state to both legally and illegally influence the state. Abolitionists from New England gave money to members of an expedition of the free soil party who wanted to influence the vote in Kansas. Pro slave Missourians snuck over state lines to vote in Kansas. The residents of Missouri knew what was happening in the neighboring states. As Melton A. McLaurin states in Celia, A Slave, “Under such circumstances the slavery debates… were inevitably a part of the backdrop to Celia’s trial…” (79). Proslavery conventions, congressional debates and various publications informed Missouri citizens of the tenuous state of affairs when it came to the issue of slavery and certainly influenced the jury during Celia’s

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