Dred Scott Case
By: Oscar Martinez
Dred Scott Case
This case involved Dred Scott, a slave to an army surgeon, who had accompanied his master into free territories . In 19846, after his owner died, Scott sued the state's executor, John F.A. Sanford, for his freedom, since he had lived so long on free soil.
Dred Scott Case occurred in Missouri at the Supreme Court of Missouri On March 6,1857. At a time when slavery issue threatened to tear the country apart. Settlers were violently clashing in Kansas and neighboring Missouri regarding the issue, and in May 1856, a pro-slavery congressman beat an abolitionist senator into unconsciousness on the senate floor.
what was the impact of this case
Dred Scott Case occurred because a slave who had been living for some years on free soil demanded his freedom. He went to trial to sue for his freedom in 1847. Ten years later, after a decade of appeals and courts reversals, his case was finally brought before the United States Court.
This historical impact of this case was that after the Civil War, the Federal government moved to abolish slavery with the 13th Amendment (1865) and then to extend state and national citizenship with the 14th Amendment (1868) to "all persons born or naturalized in the United States. It's now pointed to as a new lesson on the limits of the Supreme Court's power, as a key to step on the road to the Civil War and as one of the worst decisions ever made by the Supreme Court.