Celia, A Slave

McLaurin concludes that Celia’s version of the events (that she acted alone in killing Newsom and disposing of his body) is the truth.  What evidence does he use to support this conclusion?  What evidence is there against Celia’s story?  What do you believe happened on the night Newsom was killed?  Based on what evidence?

Several key historical events are relevant to Celia’s story, including legislation like the Missouri Compromise and the Kansas-Nebraska Act and legal decisions such as the Dred Scott case.  Explain why the political backdrop to Celia’s case is so fundamental to our understanding of her life, using particular examples to illustrate your argument.  

McLaurin compares Celia’s case to the Dred Scott decision.  Why do you think Celia’s case is not as widely known as Dred Scott?  How does studying Celia’s case enhance our understanding of this far-reaching and devastating part of American history in ways that are different from studying the Dred Scott decision?

Why does McLaurin use the first chapter to sketch out the similarities between Robert Newsom and John Jameson, whom he deliberately sets up as foils?  How should we account for their different views of Celia and her worth?  We might be tempted to attribute the difference between them to individual chance—one man was simply born with a stronger moral compass than the other—but how might we account for the difference with consideration of the larger political and social context of the time?

Why, according to McLaurin, was Celia unlikely to have received help from Newsom’s daughters when she asked them to intervene on her behalf?  How is this relevant to his discussion of gender oppression in the context of slavery?

How would you characterize the role of the press? Use McLaurin’s references to various newspaper accounts of the murder, trial, and execution to develop and support your discussion.   

Several politicians are discussed in relation to Celia.  Who were they, what were their political parties, what were the issues they addressed, and why does McLaurin see them as relevant to Celia’s story?

The cover of (at least one edition of) Celia, A Slave, calls it a “true story of violence and retribution in antebellum Missouri.”  Explore how this description is open to multiple interpretations, depending on what “violence and retribution” refers to.  Does “violence” refer to Celia’s violence against Newsom and the state’s “retribution” against her in the form of execution?  To Robert Newsom’s violence against Celia and her “retribution” against him?  Or to the violence of slavery itself, in which case, what is the retribution for it?