Scott V. Sandford Case Analysis

Words: 1526

Pages: 7

Open Document

In 1803 Thomas Jefferson purchased approximately 828,000,000 square miles of territory from France, doubling United States territory. The divisive topic of whether slavery would be legal in the newly acquired territory became a common argument between northern and southern politicians. Many compromises such as The Missouri Compromise, and The 1850 Compromise were issued to try to resolve the issue without war. In 1853 a slave named Dred Scott sued for his freedom in St. Louis. This case was known as “Scott v. Sandford.” Dred Scott lost the supreme court case 7-2. The court declared that Scott had no right to sue because he was not a United States citizen, due to his heritage, and deemed The Missouri Compromise Unconstitutional. The Dred Scott …show more content…
This article was written March 27, 1857, 3 weeks after Chief justice Taney announced the verdict. The author of the article writes “Some of the journalists who support the cause of the Administration, are pleasing themselves with the fancy that the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, in the Dred Scott case will, put an end to agitation of the slavery question. They WILL SOON FIND THEIR MISTAKE. One specific after another has been tried, with the same view, and with the same success. The Fugitive Slave law, we were told, was to quiet all agitation, but it did not; the Nebraska bill was to stop all controversy on the slavery question, but it proved to be oil poured on the flames”(6) The author of this article called for the those journalists who are “pleasing themselves with the fancy that the decision of the Supreme Court” to humble themselves because the abolitionist movement is still very alive, and a threat to their way of life (7). He references previous failures to quiet the abolitionist movements, that only proved to make the problem more relevant. The author fears that the Dred Scott case will lead to a civil

Dred Scott V. Sandford Case Analysis

In the Dred Scott v. Sandford case (argued 1856 - decided 1857), the Supreme Court ruled that Americans of African descent, whether free or slave, were not American citizens and could not sue in federal court. The Supreme argued that Scott's status as a citizen of a free state under the Missouri Compromise did not give him status as a U.S. citizen. While states were free to create their own citizenship criteria, the Constitution only gives Congress authority to define national citizenship. The Court…

Words 153 - Pages 1

Dred Scott V. Sandford Case Analysis

Dred Scott was a slave in the U.S.A. who sued his owner unsuccessfully for his freedom in the famous Dred Scott vs. Sandford case in 1856 This was the first time in history where a slave sue for his freedom and the case went all the way to the supreme court The decision of the Supreme Court stated that because Scott was black, he was not a U.S.A. citizen he had no rights to sued his master or anyone else because he wasn’t considered a human, he was more like a property someone owned , also Federal…

Words 155 - Pages 1

Dred Scott V. Sandford Case Analysis

the Dred Scott v. Sandford case, issuing a decision, and affirming the right of slave owners to take their slaves into the Western territories. Dred Scott was a former slave who fought for his freedom through the Supreme Court. His owner took him along to free states for long periods of time and “Scott argued that living in Illinois, a free state, and Wisconsin, a free territory, had made his family free,” (Roark, 371). Regardless of his claim, the Court strongly ruled against Dred Scott and forced…

Words 271 - Pages 2

Dred Scott V. Sandford Case Analysis

Dred Scott was a slave in Missouri who lived in the free state of Illinois from 1833 to 1843. He later returned to Missouri and sued the Missouri courts for his freedom in 1846. His argument with state courts was that because he lived in a free state, he was a free man. This was unsuccessful and the case was appealed . Scott then brought his case to the federal courts. Unfortunately the verdict was the same and it was ruled that Scott was still considered a slave in the state of Missouri. Scott appealed…

Words 829 - Pages 4

Dred Scott V. Sandford Case Analysis

Dred Scott v. Sandford This case involved a man named Dred Scott. Scott was a slave and lived in the slave state known as Missouri. In 1834 Illinois was considered a free state due to the Missouri Compromise of 1820. Also in the year 1834, Scott was purchased by a white man, and then moved to Illinois with his new owner. The dream was too short for Scott because Scott and his owner eventually returned to Missouri. Dred Scott felt that because he had lived in Illinois, a free slave territory, he should…

Words 238 - Pages 1

Formative Civil Rights Essay

by the Supreme Court to discover whether discrimination is permissible? a. Reasonableness, inherently suspect, and the intermediate standard b. Reasonableness, inherently suspect, and grossly discriminatory c. Arguably discriminatory, reasonable analysis, and negligent d. Negligent, arguably discriminatory, and reasonable e. Suspect, inherently suspect, and the intermediate standard Answer: a 3. The courts have recently ruled that, under the Fourteenth Amendment, racial and ethnic classifications…

Words 2961 - Pages 12

Department of English Spring 2014 Course Descriptions Essays

food, as if to say they are replaceable or disposable. In what respects are animals definitely not human? In this class, we will read literature and watch films that ask us to imagine a wide range of relationships between humans and animals. In each case, we must reconsider what makes us different from animals, whether we understand each other better than we think, and how we are to live with each other. We shall begin by considering man as opposed to animal. From the ancient Greeks through the Enlightenment…

Words 9501 - Pages 39