What does this tell us about the hardships enslaved women faced?

Obvious, but none the less the primary theme, slavery is the central tenet of the book. The author tells the reader some of the more fundamental elements of slavery, not least the fact that slaves were not actually considered to be people in their own right, but the property of their masters, and so had no civil rights, or human rights, whatsoever. Although many were subsequently emancipated by their masters, who had viewed them as employed labor rather than possessions, the masters in the community in which Celia found herself were not prepared to do so.

Owning a slave also seems to have been a "get out of jail free" card for men who wanted to rape women but were afraid that they would get caught, or killed by a woman whose right was to defend herself. There were two sides to the slavery argument and it is apparent that it was not an issue with any middle ground at all. The author lays out the social scenery at the time and also the politics behind the status of slavery within the Union.