What was the Dred Scott Decision?

The Dred Scott Decision was a ruling by the United States Supreme Court in 1857 that decided African Americans were not citizens of the United States and could never be based upon the precepts of the US Constitution.

What is the legal term for the Dred Scott Decision?

The Dred Scott Decision is legally referenced as Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. (19 How.) 393 (1857). The defendant was John F. A. Sanford, but due to a clerical error, the case was registered as "Dred Scott v. Sandford" and has never been corrected.

What was the Dred Scott Decision about?

The Dred Scott Decision concerned a slave, Dred Scott, who sued the widow of his owner for his freedom. Although there was precedent for such a suit, this case took on greater political significance due to the time (1846-1857) in which it was heard, when the issue of slavery was further dividing the USA in the years leading to the American Civil War.

What happened to Dred Scott?

After the Dred Scott Decision ruled that he was still enslaved, after 11 years of litigation, Dred Scott was freed by the widow of his former master and lived over a year as a free man before dying of tuberculosis in 1858.

Timeline: Dred Scott Decision

Definition

The Dred Scott Decision (Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. (19 How.) 393 (1857) was the infamous ruling of the United States Supreme Court that, according to the US Constitution, Black people were not and could not be considered citizens of the United States of America and, further, that "no slave or descendant of a slave had any 'rights which the white man was bound to respect'" (Delbanco, 331).

More about: Dred Scott Decision

Timeline

1846
The slave Dred Scott tries to buy his freedom from Irene Emerson and, when refused, files a court case against her.
1846 - 1857
The Dred Scott case drags on for eleven years until it is finally decided against him and in favor of national slavery.
1857
Dred Scott Decision by the US Supreme Court rules that Blacks are not and can never be United States citizens.
1857
Dred Scott is freed by his former enslaver and lives with his wife and children as a free man for over a year.
1858
Dred Scott dies from tuberculosis.

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