Essay On The Dred Scott Decision

Dred Scott Vs SandFord The case, Dred Scott vs Sandford, (1857) better known as the Dred Scott case was a crucial decision that affected America and it’s black population. Free blacks in America weren’t able to sue the court. The concept of popular sovereignty was also questioned, and blacks with ancestors were imported to America was slave could no longer become citizens. The Case ruled that slaves in free countries are still slaves.

Dred Scott v. Sandford was a landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court on US labor law and constitutional law. The case was decided in 1857 with a 7–2 decision. Scholars today believe it is one of the worst Supreme Court decisions of all time. Dred Scott was born a slave in Virginia in the 1790’s. In 1830, he was bought by Dr. John Emerson. As an army officer, Dr. Emerson moved frequently. After purchasing him they moved to Illinois, where slavery had been prohibited by the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 and by state law. After a few years, Emerson moved to a fort in the Wisconsin Territory, where it was barred by the Missouri Compromise. While there, Scott met and married Harriet Robinson, a slave owned by Lawrence Taliaferro. They had two daughters together. Ownership of Harriet was transferred to Emerson. They returned back to Missouri in 1840. Three years later, Dr. John Emerson died and his widow Irene inherited his

Decisions made in the 1850s ultimately decided the United States fate. From the election of 1856 to the Dred Scott case, the nation would become divided into two. The South was pro-slavery and supported the idea of slavery expanded into western territories, while the North opposed of the idea and was mainly against expanding slavery. Until the 1850s the nation barely balanced the slavery issue.

he Dred Scott decision of 1857 was a significant decision made by the U.S. Supreme Court that declared that blacks, regardless of whether they were free or a slave, had no legal standing because they were not American citizens. The decision was not the first to be made regarding Dred Scott; a Missouri jury ruled in Scott 's favour when Scott claimed that his residence in Illinois and Wisconsin made him free, but the state supreme court ruled against him, which lead to the case being escalated to the US Supreme Court. The US Supreme Court ruled against Scott 7-2.

The Dred Scott v. Sandford case had the greatest impact on Race Relations in America because it created a legitimate definition of the citizenship. Scott, a former slave, stated that because of his occupancy in a free state, he is a free man. The other side argued that Scott was still a slave and according to the fifth amendment, no person (master) can be deprived of their property. The initial impact of the case was in favor of the slave owner but this decision was overturned by the adoption of the thirteenth and fourteenth amendment. The thirteenth amendment ended slavery and the fourteenth amendment granted citizenship to everyone born or naturalized in the United States included former slaves who had been freed after the Civil War.

Many politicians felt this was a white man’s war and slaves had no right to fight this war. Slaves were not allowed to fight, all this changed when Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, it declared “ That all person held as slaves within the Confederate states should be free. Although it did not end slavery in the nation it gave people hope and uplifted the moral of blacks. Fredrick Douglas convinced Abraham Lincoln that African Americans were ready to fight and serve the Union.

The Results of Dred Scott v Sanford had different effects on American history. This also contributed to the start of the civil war. Dred Scott v Sanford was a court decision on if Dred Scott could sue for his freedom. " According to Supreme Court History, Dred Scott could not sue for his freedom because he was not a citizen. " This was otherwise known as an illegal case. The effects of the Dred Scott decision were Sectional tensions between the north and south, Succession from the union, presidents could not use the term slavery or they would most definitely lose the election. The Contribution to the Civil war that the decision had was that the Republican party was formed, Which made the North and south closer to war.

Even though it granted Blacks citizenship it did not give them equality, and soon arose numerous

Nick Baxter What caused the Civil War? DBQ The Civil War was caused by three main reasons are economic differences, interpretation of Constitution, and moral beliefs. The North and the South were very different economically.

The concept of slavery being taken away as a right led to the Southern states seceding, becoming a “country” of their own. They felt the North was not listening to them, and ignoring their rights clearly listed as an amendment. This amendment was included to gain the Southern states ratification of the constitution which ultimately led to the Civil War. The state having this type of power caused the Federalists to feel a bill of rights was redundant, but Anti-Federalists did not feel that it was written clear enough. They were not reassured.

Although, it wasn’t until the Fourteenth Amendment that slaves were defined as citizens. The Thirteenth amendment was the beginning of a developing chapter in History. During the constitutional

Tennessee approved the amendment and congress began to let senators and representatives back in. But it wasn’t that easy, Johnson didn’t want this to happen at all so he made it a pressing issue in the election of 1866. This started to cause violence to occur. A mob in New Orleans broke out and 34 black people died. In Memphis white mobs killed about 46 people.

The Constitution of the United States was formed in order to unify the separate states into one country, under one government. It established the government, laws and proclaimed the rights of United States citizens. Under the Constitution slavery was neither legal nor illegal, creating problems eventually leading to the dissolution of the Union. This oversight in the Constitution led to increased tension between the North, who called for an end to slavery, and the South were the institution was deeply rooted. The rapid expansion of the United States during the 1850’s through 1860’s revitalized the slavery debate, and called for decision on whether slavery would continue and spread, or be outlawed.

The end result of the Dred Scott decision was Chief Justice Roger Taney 's decision that Congress did not possess the jurisdiction to stop slavery from spreading into other territories, even if they were considered free. Even worse, any free Black could now be allowably forced into slavery. Being forced into slavery was also seen as being beneficial to the free Blacks. Instead of reaching a decision as President Buchanan had hoped, it had started a rapid expansion of the conflict. This rapid expansion over the issue of slavery eventually led to the Civil War.

The United States gained its independence in 1776. After that, the United States struggled with numerous tariffs and compromises that can be arguing to be the cause of the civil war. With the gruesome acts of slavery in the south, it show that the north and south have been fed up and was begin to tear apart. The rise of political parties contributed to numerous political beliefs and ideas.