Scott's Journey and Legal Battles:
- Dred Scott was born into slavery in Virginia around 1799. In 1830, his owner, John Emerson, took him to the free state of Illinois and then to the Wisconsin Territory, where slavery was also prohibited.
- In 1838, Emerson returned with Scott to Missouri, a slave state. Scott, believing he had gained freedom by living in free territories, sued for his freedom in Missouri state courts based on the Missouri Compromise of 1820, which prohibited slavery in the northern part of the Louisiana Territory, including Missouri.
- Scott's initial lawsuit was unsuccessful, and the Missouri Supreme Court ruled against him in 1852, arguing that he had not become free while living in free territories and that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional.
Supreme Court Case:
- Scott's case gained national attention, and he appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1854, represented by abolitionist lawyers. The case challenged the legality of slavery in free territories and raised questions about the citizenship rights of African Americans under the U.S. Constitution.
- In 1857, the Supreme Court delivered its ruling in Dred Scott v. Sandford. In a 7-2 decision, Chief Justice Roger Taney wrote the majority opinion, which declared that African Americans were not citizens and could not sue in federal court.
- The Court also ruled that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional because Congress did not have the authority to prohibit slavery in the territories.
Impact of the Dred Scott Decision:
- The Dred Scott decision was a major blow to the abolitionist movement and further inflamed tensions between the North and the South. It fueled the already heated debates over the expansion of slavery into new territories and intensified the movement toward civil war.
- The decision's denial of citizenship to African Americans stood in stark contrast to the principles of equality and liberty that were central to the founding ideals of the United States.
- The ruling ultimately contributed to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President in 1860, who opposed the expansion of slavery and whose policies led to the American Civil War.
Dred Scott's case and the Supreme Court decision became pivotal moments in the history of slavery in the United States, sparking outrage and propelling the country closer to a catastrophic civil war that would ultimately lead to the abolition of slavery.