Dred Scott

Supreme Court What can you remember?

How many of these apply to the Supreme Court? It is the highest court of appeal in the USA A simple majority is all that is required for a decision to be reached Its decisions have to be obeyed throughout the entire US It interprets what is not made explicit in the Constitution It can never be wrong It is highly influenced by the political outlook of the Chief Justice It is highly influenced by the positions adopted by the President of the US All of the above

By the end of this lesson everybody will be able to… Recall the Dred Scott case Explain the significance of the Dred Scott case Assess the value of a source to a historians studying the reactions to the Dred Scott case

Go through Dred Scott’s travels Use p.75 to make notes on the case

Is Dred Scott a significant event? Northern reaction – evidence of a slave conspiracy their between the President, Supreme Court and Democrats Northern press attack Supreme Court, with some editors talking of defying it (hard to do!) Had little impact on Dred Scott: he was soon bought by the sons of one of his previous owners and set free Seen as an attempt to undermine the Republican party Undermined popular sovereignty Is Dred Scott a significant event?

Adapted from an article in the newspaper, the Charleston Mercury (South Carolina), entitled ‘The Decision of the Supreme Court in the Dred Scott Case, and its Tremendous Consequences’, March 16th 1857 The Dred Scott decision, in a political party view, is the judgement that Congress has no power and can delegate no power over the question of slavery in the Territories. This decision, at a single blow, smashes the anti-slavery platform of the late great Northern Republican Party into atoms. The policy of legislating slavery out of Kansas and the other Territories of the Union by Congress will no longer avail them. Congress has no power in the Territories. That is settled. What was in doubt is in doubt no longer. The supreme law is expounded by the supreme authority and disobedience is rebellion, treason and revolution. The Republican Party henceforth must choose between submission and revolution – loyalty and treason. With reference to this sources and your understanding of the historical context, is this source to a historian studying the reaction to the Dred Scott decision?