DRED SCOTT VS. SANDFORD

BACKGROUND OF DRED SCOTT

• Dred Scott was bought by an army surgeon named Dr. John Emerson.
• Emerson had moved to a free state and Scott followed.
• Emerson passed and Scott had to go back to the wife, who lived in a slave state.
• Scott believed he should be free and sued.

BACKGROUND Of CASE

• Case was argued in 1856 decided on March 6,1857.
• Dred Scott and his wife, Harriet, sued for their freedom in St. Louis city court.
• Most explosive issue in American politics.

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• Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, read the majority of the court.
• It had stated that slaves were not citizens and couldn't be protected by the federal government.
• This decision moved the nation closer to the Civil War.

THE SIGNIFICANCE

• The Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional.
• Congress didn't have authority to prohibit slavery in territories.
• The Dred Scott decision was then overturned by the 13th and 14th amendments.

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REFERENCES

• http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=29
• http://www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/antebellum/landmark_dred.html
• https://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/DredScott.html