Dred Scott V. Sandford Case

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In 1846, an enslaved Black man named Dred Scott and his wife, Harriet, sued for their freedom from enslavement in St. Louis Circuit Court. They claimed that they were legally free because he and his family lived in a state where slavery was banned. The Court stated that because Dred Scott was black, he was not an American citizen so therefore he had no rights or protections.

When their “owner” passed away in 1832, John Emerson purchased Scott and took him to a free state, which was Illinois. After that, they went to Fort Snelling in Wisconsin Territory where the Missouri Compromise had banned slavery. There, Scott married Harriet Robinson, who was also a slave. Harriet’s owner transferred her ownership to John Emerson.

In late 1837, John …show more content…
Louis to live with her father and also allowed her enslaved workers to be used for payment, including Scott and his family. Scott tried multiple times to purchase his freedom from Irene, but she refused every single time, so the Scott’s were still slaves and under Irene’s …show more content…
On 1854, May 15, the federal court heard Dred Scott v. Sandford and ruled against Scott, keeping him and his family as slaves. In December 1854, Scott appealed his case to the United States Supreme Court. The trial began in 1856, February 11. His case has gained tons of attention and Dred Scott received a lot of support from many abolitionists, including powerful politicians and high-profile attorneys. On March 6, 1857, Chief Justice Roger B. Taney read the opinion of majority of the Court, which stated that enslaved people were not citizens of the United States and therefore could not expect any protection or rights from the federal government or the courts. The opinion also stated that Congress had no authorization to ban slavery from federal territory, so they claimed they could not and would not do anything. He stated that African Americans were not and could never be citizens of the United States; and that the Missouri Compromise which was made in 1820 March 2, which drew a line between the nation from east to west so now it was half free and half enslaved was
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