And The case for freedom Dred Scott And The case for freedom

Slave Life Dred Scott was born as a slave in Virginia in 1795, and sold to his owner, Peter Blow, a Missouri plantation owner After Peter Blow’s death in 1832, Scott was transferred to the ownership of Dr. John Emerson, an army surgeon Emerson brought Scott back with him to the free State of Illinois

Slave Life Cont… In 1836, after two years in Illinois, Scott was brought with Dr.Emerson to a fort in Wisconsin, also a free territory Scott never made a claim to freedom in these free states, either unaware of his rights or happy with his situation there After Scott was brought back to Missouri, Emerson died in 1843, leaving Scott to be hired by Emerson’s widow to an army captain

Suing for Freedom No longer content with his situation, he offered to buy his freedom for 300 dollars, an offer refused Scott believed that the years he spent in the free states of Wisconsin and Illinois made him a free man, seeing as this was often the way that things worked in the region In 1847, Scott lost his court case due to the fact that he couldn’t prove he was actually owned by Emerson’s widow

Dred Scot V. Sanford After losing his case in the United States Circuit Court of Missouri in 1854, Scott sought to bring his case to the U.S. Supreme Court Representing the Defence, was Mrs.Emerson’s brother John Sanford, from New York Of the nine Supreme court Justices of 1854, 7 had been appointed by pro-slavery presidents and 5 were from families owning slaves

Dred Scott V. Sanford A previous decision had given States the sole right to determine the status of their inhabitants What the case broke down to was: whether The Court had the ability to argue the case (considering the powers of the states), and whether Scott was actually a citizen

Outcome and Impact In 1857, The United States Supreme Court ruled that no slave or descendent of a slave could ever be, or ever was a citizen Thus, Scott had no right to sue in federal court Additionally, the Missouri compromise (restricting slavery in certain territory) of 1820 was ruled unconstitutional

Outcome and Impact The decision pleased many southerners, but infuriated the North The case was a major reason for the Election of anti-slavery candidate Abraham Lincoln, and the following secession of the southern states The case had a profound impact on America, and is commonly know as one of the most infamous cases in Supreme Court History

Bibliography http://www.nps.gov/archive/jeff/dred_scott.html http://libraries.wustl.edu/vlib/dredscott/new_exhibits/ds01.htmll http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2932.html http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/africanamerican/scott/scott.asp