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Why Was Dred Scott Considered Free

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Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger B. Taney made a pro-slavery ruling in the 1857 Dred Scott Case that deemed blacks were not considered citizens of the United States (History.com, 2016). Dred Scott was a slave owned by John Emerson who had spent lots of his time in Illinois and eventually Wisconsin, which was free territory. Scott felt that since he spent most of his residency in a free territory that he should be considered free. But unfortunately the Supreme Court denied citizenship to black people, setting the stage for their treatment as second class citizens, leading to the Jim Crow Laws. Jim Crow laws are statutes and ordinances that were formed to create "separate but equal" facilities for the black and white races of the south(softschools.com, …show more content…

Louis, Missouri by his owners in 1830. In the following years soon after moving he was sold to Dr. John Emerson. With his owner being an army doctor they traveled very frequently, leading Dred Scott into many placed against the idea of slavery. For seven years, he lived in slave free territories. After the death of his owner John Emerson, he was then considered property of Emerson’s wife. Dred Scott reported that Mrs. Emerson beat him and treated him terribly. Hence, why he decided to fight for the freedom that he believe he deserved. Two out of the three justices were pro slavery making it a hard battle to fight for Dred …show more content…

Supreme Court decision in 1857, and hastened the start of the Civil War (americancivilwar.com,nd) . The most ironic moments in American history, Chief Justice Taney swore in Abraham Lincoln as president of the United States in 1861. As historian Charles Warren later wrote, Taney elected Abraham Lincoln to the Presidency. Not long after that the Civil War, began. Taney remained on the court during the Civil War until his death in 1864. He was described by a diarist of the time, while being one of the saddest figures in Washington. During Dred Scott’s trials many difficult events that ended up concluding with the U.S. Supreme Court decision which accelerated the start of the Civil

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