The Crisis Deepens:
The Dred Scott Decision and Lincoln-Douglas
Debates
EQ: Why did the Dred Scott Decision and John
Brown’s raid increase tensions between the North
and the South?
The Dred Scott Decision
 Plaintiff- Dred Scott (a slave)
 Defendant- Irene Emerson
(his owner’s widow)
 Supreme Court JusticeRoger B. Taney
Judicial Decisions
1. Did Scott have the right to sue?
2. Was Scott free as a result of living in a
state and territory where slavery was
illegal?
3. Was it constitutional for the Congress to
limit slavery in the territories?
Taney’s Decision
1. Did Scott have the right to sue?
 No, because he is not a citizen
2. Was Scott free as a result of living in a
state and territory where slavery was
illegal?

No, he is considered property and right to
property is protected by law
SC
3. Was it constitutional for the Congress to
Decision
limit slavery in the territories?

No, all laws that do so (including the Missouri
Compromise) are unconstitutional
Importance of
Ruling
The Lincoln-Douglas
(Illinois Senate) Debates, 1858
A House divided against
itself, cannot stand.
Lincoln and Douglas Clash
Lincoln
returns
“A house
divided”
After the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska
Act, Lincoln returned to public life.
Lincoln helped organize the Illinois
Republican Party in 1856. He opposed
Stephen Douglas’s bid for a third term in
the U.S. Senate. Lincoln spoke eloquently
at his nomination, taking the most radical
stance against slavery with the prediction
“A house divided against itself cannot
stand.”
The Lincoln Douglas Debates
 The debates were a series of public meetings.
While Douglas spoke with great flair, Lincoln’s
manner was mild. His strength lay in the logic and
reasoning of his ideas.
Lincoln and Douglas Clash
The Freeport Doctrine
 The second debate was the
most critical.
 Lincoln challenged Douglas to
explain how people could use
popular sovereignty to keep
slavery out of a place when the
Dred Scott decision had said
they could not.
 Douglas’s reply came to be
known as the Freeport
Doctrine. “If the people are
opposed to slavery they will
elect representatives to that
body who will by unfriendly
legislation . . . prevent the
introduction of it into their midst.”
Lincoln and Douglas Clash
Lincoln’s social views
 Lincoln stressed the immorality of slavery in the
debates.
 Douglas referred to Lincoln’s party as Black
Republicans and painted an image of a society
where the races were equal, pressing Lincoln on
citizenship for blacks.
 Backed into a corner, Lincoln said, “I will say that I
am not, nor have ever been in favor of bringing
about in any way the social and political equality of
the white and black races.”
The Debates’ Significance
 Deciding who won
 Douglas retained his Senate seat, but most historians judge
Lincoln to have won the debates. He had argued the more famous
Douglas to a draw and in the process made himself a national
figure.
 Supporters
 Douglas’s statements caused him to lose support of southern
Democrats, which proved critical when he faced Lincoln again in
the presidential election. Lincoln’s moderate positions increased
his standing among northerners, but southerners still thought
Lincoln was a serious threat to slavery.
 Speaking to the people
 Lincoln and Douglas took their arguments directly to the people
and made the issues of the day clear to the nation. The outcome
directly affected the presidential election of 1860.