Dred Scott
v.
Sandford
By Chloe Sturges
Overview
Dred Scott, a slave in the 1800s, was taken out of
Missouri, a slave state, by his owner John Emerson (an
army surgeon) to military bases in free territories Illinois
and Wisconsin, and then taken back to Missouri after a
few years. His owner died soon after their return, and
Scott was passed to John Sanford. Scott believed he
should be freed on grounds that he had lived in free
territory and should therefore be emancipated. His case
eventually came before the supreme court, led by Chief
Justice Robert B. Taney, a slavery supporter. The Court
ruled that persons descended from African slaves could
not become citizens even if they were freed, and
therefore were not entitled to protection under the
constitution. The Court also ruled that the Missouri
Compromise of 1820 was unconstitutional because
Congress had no right to prohibit slavery, due to the fact
that slaves were property and the Constitution protected
the right to property.
Details of ruling
• Taney (writing for the majority) said Scott could not sue
Sanford because he was not a U.S. citizen.
• Court found that Scott was not a citizen because he was
both a slave and of African descent
• Taney believed slaves "had no rights which the white man
was bound to respect"
• President elect James Buchanan convinced Democratic
justice Robert Grier to vote with the Southern majority on
this ruling to make it seem like the decision wasn’t purely
sectional in favor of the South
• Taney ruled that the Missouri Compromise of 1820 was
unconstitutional because slaves were property, or “chattel”,
meaning Congress could not prohibit slavery in a territory
because that would go against the Constitution’s protection
of the right to property.
• Made possible the expansion of slavery into the territories.
Dred Scott
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Lived 1795-1858
Born a slave in Southampton County, VA
1834: taken by owner John Emerson to free territory Illinois and Wisconsin – then
back to Missouri (slave state) about 12 years later
During his time in free territory, Emerson allowed Scott to be married, an uncommon
privilege for slaves at that time (Scott later had 2 children)
Emerson died in 1843, upon their return to Missouri, and Scott, along with wife
Harriet, were passed to the ownership of Emerson’s wife, Eliza Emerson.
Dred Scott attempted to buy his freedom, but Emerson refused, so he sued Emerson
for his freedom 1846 ( Scott and family were found free, but Emerson was granted a
new trial set for 1848)
Before the trial, Emerson moved to Massachusetts, transferring advocacy of the case
to her brother, John Sanford
This case went before the U.S. Supreme court
March 6, 1857, in Dred Scott v. John Sandford (the Court misspelled Sanford’s
name), after much debate, the Supreme Court ruled against Scott 7 to 2, with Chief
Justice Roger B. Taney giving the majority opinion.
a Short time after the trial was over, the sons of Peter Blow, Scott’s first owner,
bought Scott and his family’s emancipation
Robert B. Taney
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Lived from 1777–1864
5th Chief Justice of Supreme Court 1836-1864
Died on the day Maryland abolished slavery
Replaced John Marshall as Chief Justice of Supreme
Court
• Emancipated all of his own slaves and gave them
pensions when they became too old for work
• Became very pro-slavery over time
• Believed the Dred Scott decision would take the issue of
slavery out of discussion and keep it from being debated
anymore
Taney’s ruling v Opposition
• 2 justices (Justice Curtis and Justice
McLean) dissented and contradicted
Taney’s views, saying blacks were citizens
in many Northern free territories so they
were citizens of the U.S.
• Also, in Constitution, only 3 sections
actually mention slavery (sort of), and
when the term slavery is implied, slaves
are referred to as persons, not property.
Who?
Robert B. Taney
Dred Scott
Dred Scott’s wife, Harriet
James Buchanan
When & Where?
(the arrows depict Dred Scott’s voyage from slave to free back to
slave territory)
St. Louis Misouri, location of early court proceedings
Washington D.C., location of Supreme Court hearing
Free territories
Scott lived in
What if things had gone differently?
• The Decision caused many Northerners to fear that slavery
would spread to the Western territories and maybe even to the
Northern States eventually. This growing fear in the North was
one of the contributing causes of the Civil War.
• But What if the Supreme Court had ruled in favor of Dred
Scott? Would there still have been a Civil War?
• Would it have been sooner or later?
• Noting that the 14th amendment specifically overruled the Dred
Scott decision, granting citizenship to all persons born or
naturalized in the United States, would the 13th and 14th
amendments to the Constitution have been created after the
Civil War?
• Would Lincoln still have felt the need to issue the Emancipation
Proclamation (immediate freedom of all slaves) at the start of
the Civil War?
• In summary, this decision had a profound impact on American
History, but we will never know what might’ve been if that ruling
had been different.
Consequences of Decision
• Dred Scott decision one of the major causes of
the Panic of 1857, because people in west
were afraid if slavery was opened to all western
territory, railroad bond values would plummet
• Caused a run on major New York banks
• Fear of possible spread of slavery into the
North was contributing factor in Civil War
Once Dred Scott and his
family were finally freed in
1858, they lived in St. Louis
Missouri, where Scott was a
local celebrity until his death
only 18 months later. He
died of tuberculosis in 1858.
Roger Taney remained Chief
Justice until after the Civil
was began, although by that
time he was hated by both the
North and South, including
president Lincoln.
Sources
Pictures
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http://www.lib.unc.edu/coursepages/hi
st/images/DredScott.jpg
http://media-2.web.britannica.com/ebmedia/34/66834-004-F337E210.jpg
http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resou
rces/africanamerican/scott/images/87
44-08.jpg
http://www.iamthewitness.com/books/i
mg/Roger.B.Taney.jpg
http://mentalfloss.cachefly.net/wpcontent/uploads/2008/06/225pxRoger_Taney.jpg
http://z.about.com/d/americanhistory/
1/0/k/9/15_buchanan_1.jpg
http://images.google.com/images
?hl=en&client=firefoxa&rls=org.mozilla:enUS:official&um=1&q=dollar+signs
&sa=N&start=18&ndsp=18
http://www.slaveryinamerica.org/g
eography/slavery_us_1860.jpg
Information
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http://www.answers.com/topic/dred-scott
http://www.biographybase.com/biograph
y/Taney_Roger_B.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dred_Scott_v
._Sandford#Scott_v._Emerson
http://www.apstudent.com/ushistory/sear
ch.php
Text book
Primary Sources
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The United States Constitution
www.USConstitution.net
Scott v. Sandford – full text
http://supreme.justia.com/us/60/393/cas
e.html