Dred Scott v. Sanford

Dred Scott was a slave from Missouri.

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• Dred Scott traveled with his owner to Illinois and Wisconsin.
• Those were free states.
• After his master (an Army doctor) died, Scott asks the widow for his and his family's freedom.
• She says no.
• He sues for freedom.

Court Battle

• Scott's legal argument: He had lived for a time in free states, so legally he should be free
• Initially granted freedom, but the Missouri Supreme Court reversed the decision.
• Just like in the Amistad case.
• The case goes to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Legal Issues in Question

• Can a slave sue for freedom?
• Is a slave property?
• Is slavery legal, even in places where it isn't?

What do they decide?

Roger B. Taney (Chief Justice)

No freedom for Dred Scott!

• All people of African ancestry (free and slaves) could NEVER be citizens of the U.S.
• Therefore, they could not sue in federal court.

To make you feel even better...

• The federal government did not have the authority to prohibit slavery in the territories...
• because it denied those citizens their constitutional right to protection of property.

Therefore, the Missouri Compromise is null and void.

Impact

• Well-received by slaveholders in the South
• Northerners were outraged
• Influenced the nomination of Lincoln...

Which led to the Civil War

What about Dred Scott?

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• The Blow brothers, his master's sons and childhood friends of Scott, helped pay his legal fees during the trial.
• After the S.C. decision, they purchased Dred Scott and his family and freed them.
• Scott was 58 years old.
• He died nine months after gaining his freedom.