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Dred Scott V. Sanford 1858. Julien Mercier and Kendal Kulp. Background. Dred Scott was born a slave in Missouri His owner, John Emerson, moved with him to Illinois and what is now Minnesota. John Emerson dies and Dred Scott sues for his freedom. First attempt.
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Dred Scott V. Sanford 1858 Julien Mercier and Kendal Kulp
Background • Dred Scott was born a slave in Missouri • His owner, John Emerson, moved with him to Illinois and what is now Minnesota. • John Emerson dies and Dred Scott sues for his freedom
First attempt • Dred Scott first tried to buy his freedom with abolitionist help • He won a suit for his freedom in a Missouri court against Emerson’s widow • The decision was then overturned in the Missouri supreme court
New suit • Dred Scott files a second suit in federal district court; Mrs. Emerson’s brother, John Sanford of New York acted as her attorney • The federal district court ruled that Scott was still a slave • He appealed to the US supreme court
Supreme Court justices • 5 of the justices were slave owners, another 2 supported the south • Chief justice Rodger B. Taney was a flaming racist • “The African in the United States even when free, are everywhere a degraded class and exercise no political influence. The privileges they are allowed to enjoy are accorded to them as a matter of kindness and benevolence rather than right…”
The case in SCOTUS • Three issues- Whether Scott was a citizen, whether he had gained freedom by moving to free land, whether the Missouri Compromise applied to where he lived • First ruling was that Dred Scott was not a citizen because he was black • Taney went on to say that congress had no power to regulate slavery anyway
Aftermath • Northerners decided that slavery was not nearly as tolerable now that congress had no power to regulate it • The north feared that slavery would expand into all the western territories • The case brought both the north and south to the point where they would be willing fight over slavery
Sources • Primary Chief justice Robert B. Taney- Opinion of the court in Dred Scott, plantiff in error v. John F. A. Sanford March 6,1857 • Secondary Supreme court case studies by McGraw-hill companies, inc. • Cozzens, L. (1999, October 31). Impact of dred scott. Retrieved from http://www.watson.org/~lisa/blackhistory/scott/impact.html