Dred Scott

Dred Scott (c. 1795 – September 17, 1858) was a slave who sued unsuccessfully for his freedom in the famous Dred Scott v. Sandford case of 1856. His case was based on the fact that he and his wife Harriet were slaves, but had lived in states and territories where slavery was illegal, including Illinois and Wisconsin, which was then part of the Louisiana Purchase. The court ruled seven to two against Scott, finding that neither he, nor any person of African ancestry, could claim citizenship in the United States, and that Scott could not therefore bring suit in federal court under diversity of citizenship rules. Moreover, Scott's sojourn outside of Missouri did not affect his emancipation under the Missouri Compromise, since reaching that result would deprive Scott's owner of his property. Dred Scott may refer to: Dred Scott, the slave who sued for his freedom in 1856 Dred Scott v. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (640x730, 58 KB) Dred Scott, plaintiff in the infamous en:Dred Scott v. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (640x730, 58 KB) Dred Scott, plaintiff in the infamous en:Dred Scott v. ... 1795 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... is the 260th day of the year (261st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1858 (MDCCCLVIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Slave redirects here. ... For other uses, see Freedom. ... Holding States do not have the right to claim an individuals property that was fairly theirs in another state. ... Official language(s) English[1] Capital Springfield Largest city Chicago Largest metro area Chicago Metropolitan Area Area  Ranked 25th  - Total 57,918 sq mi (140,998 km²)  - Width 210 miles (340 km)  - Length 390 miles (629 km)  - % water 4. ... For the musical, see Louisiana Purchase (musical) and Louisiana Purchase (film). ...

Overview

The case raised the issue of a slave's freedom when he was in a free state. Congress had not asserted whether slaves were free once they stepped foot on Northern soil. The ruling arguably violated the Missouri Compromise because, based on the court's logic, a white slave owner could purchase slaves in a slave state and then bring his slaves to a state where slavery was illegal without losing rights to the slaves. This factor upset the Northern Republicans and further split Northern and Southern relations. The United States in 1820. ... GOP redirects here. ...

Scott traveled with his master Dr. John Emerson, who was in the army and often transferred. Scott's extended stay with his master in Illinois, a free state, gave him the legal standing to make a claim for freedom, as did his extended stay at Fort Snelling in the Wisconsin Territory, where slavery was also prohibited. But Scott never made the claim while living in the free lands—perhaps because he was unaware of his rights at the time, or fearful of possible repercussions. After two years, the army transferred Emerson to the South: first to St. Louis, Missouri, then to Louisiana. In just over a year, the recently married Emerson summoned his slave couple. Instead of staying in the free territory of Wisconsin, or going to the free state of Illinois, the two traveled more than 1,000 miles (1,600 km), apparently unaccompanied, down the Mississippi River to meet their master. Only after Emerson's death in 1843, after Emerson's widow hired Scott out to an army captain, did Scott seek freedom for himself and his wife. First he offered to buy his freedom from Emerson's widow, Irene Emerson — then living in St. Louis — for $300. The offer was refused, leaving Scott to seek freedom through the courts. Official language(s) English[1] Capital Springfield Largest city Chicago Largest metro area Chicago Metropolitan Area Area  Ranked 25th  - Total 57,918 sq mi (140,998 km²)  - Width 210 miles (340 km)  - Length 390 miles (629 km)  - % water 4. ... Fort Snelling is a former military fortification located at the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers in Hennepin County, Minnesota. ... Wisconsin Territory became an organized territory of the United States by an act of U.S. Congress passed on April 20, 1836 which went into effect on July 3, 1836. ... Nickname: Location in the state of Missouri Coordinates: , Country State County Independent City Government  - Mayor Francis G. Slay (D) Area  - City  66. ... This article is about the U.S. State. ... For the river in Canada, see Mississippi River (Ontario). ...

Life of Dred Scott

Dred Scott was born in Southampton County, Virginia, in 1799 as property of the Peter Blow family (Congressman and statesman Henry Taylor Blow was the son of Peter). Dred Scott and the Blow family moved in 1830 to St. Louis, Missouri, where, because of financial problems, the Blow family sold Scott to Dr. John Emerson, a doctor for the United States Army. Emerson traveled extensively in Illinois and the Wisconsin Territories, where the Northwest Ordinance prohibited slavery. During those travels with Emerson, Scott met and married Harriet Robinson, and Emerson met and married Irene Sanford.^[1] The Scotts and the Emersons returned to Missouri in 1842. John Emerson died in 1843. John F. A. Sanford, brother of the widow Irene Sanford Emerson, became executor of the Emerson estate. Southampton County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia, a state of the United States. ... Henry Taylor Blow (July 15, 1817 – September 11, 1875) was a U.S. Representative and Ambassador from Missouri. ... Northwest Territory (1787). ... Slave redirects here. ...

Scott filed suit to obtain his freedom in 1846 and went to trial in 1847 in a state courthouse in St. Louis. The Blow family financed his legal wranglings. Scott lost the first trial, but the presiding judge granted a second trial because hearsay evidence had been introduced. Three years later, in 1850, a jury decided that Scott and his wife should be freed under the Missouri doctrine of "once free, always free." The widow, Irene Sanford Emerson, appealed. In 1852, the Missouri Supreme Court struck down the lower court ruling, saying, "Times now are not as they were when the previous decisions on this subject were made." The Scotts were returned to their masters as chattel once more. Personal property is a type of property. ...

With the aid of new lawyers (including Montgomery Blair), the Scotts sued again in federal court. They lost and appealed to the United States Supreme Court in Dred Scott v. Sandford. In 1857, Chief Justice Roger B. Taney delivered the majority opinion. It consisted of the following points: Montgomery Blair (May 10, 1813–July 27, 1883), son of Francis Preston Blair and elder brother of Francis Preston Blair, Jr. ... The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C. The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C., (large image) The Supreme Court of the United States, located in Washington, D.C., is the highest court (see supreme court) in the United States; that is, it has ultimate judicial authority within the United States... Holding States do not have the right to claim an individuals property that was fairly theirs in another state. ... Roger Brooke Taney (March 17, 1777 – October 12, 1864) was the fifth Chief Justice of the United States, from 1836 until his death in 1864, and the first Roman Catholic to hold that office. ...

• Any person descended from black Africans, whether slave or free, is not a citizen of the United States, according to the U.S. Constitution.
• The Ordinance of 1787 could not confer freedom or citizenship within the Northwest Territory to Black people.
• The provisions of the Act of 1820, known as the Missouri Compromise, were voided as a legislative act because the act exceeded the powers of Congress, insofar as it attempted to exclude slavery and impart freedom and citizenship to Black people in the northern part of the Louisiana cession.^[2]

In effect, the Court ruled that slaves had no claim to freedom; they were property and not citizens; they could not bring suit in federal court; and because slaves were private property, the federal government could not revoke a white slave owner's right to own a slave based on where he lived, thus nullifying the essence of the Missouri Compromise. Chief Justice Taney, speaking for the majority, also ruled that Scott was a slave, an object of private property, and therefore subject to the Fifth Amendment prohibition against taking property from its owner "without due process." Page I of the Constitution of the United States of America Page II of the United States Constitution Page III of the United States Constitution Page IV of the United States Constitution The Syng inkstand, with which the Constitution was signed The Constitution of the United States is the supreme... Amendment V (the Fifth Amendment) of the United States Constitution, which is part of the Bill of Rights, is related to legal procedure. ...

Gravesite

After the ruling, with Sanford in an insane asylum, Scott was returned as property to Irene Emerson. However, in 1850, Emerson had been remarried to an abolitionist, Calvin C. Chaffee, who shortly thereafter was elected to Congress. In a bizarre turn of events, Chaffee was apparently unaware that his wife owned arguably the most prominent slave in America until a month before the Supreme Court decision. Too late to intervene, the severely criticized Chaffee proceeded to have Emerson return Scott to his original owners, the Blow family, who, as Missouri residents, could emancipate him. Scott was formally freed on May 26, 1857 and worked as a porter in St. Louis during the less than nine months before he died from tuberculosis in September 1858. Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 533 pixelsFull resolution (1200 × 800 pixel, file size: 1. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 533 pixelsFull resolution (1200 × 800 pixel, file size: 1. ... For the game, see: 1850 (board game) 1850 (MDCCCL) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday [1] of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Calvin Clifford Chaffee (August 28, 1811–August 8, 1896) was an American doctor and politician. ... is the 146th day of the year (147th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1857 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Tuberculosis (abbreviated as TB for tubercle bacillus or Tuberculosis) is a common and deadly infectious disease caused by mycobacteria, mainly Mycobacterium tuberculosis. ...

Dred Scott is interred in Calvary Cemetery, St. Louis, Missouri. Harriet was thought to be buried near her husband, but it was later learned that she was buried somewhere in Greenwood Cemetery in Hillsdale, Missouri. Bellefontaine Cemetery (established in 1849) and the Roman Catholic Calvary Cemetery (established in 1857) in St. ... Hillsdale is a village located in St. ...

In 1997, Dred and Harriet Scott were inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame. The St. ...

External links

• Biography of Dred Scott by Christyn Elley, Missouri State Archives
• Full text of the Dred Scott v. Sandford Supreme Court decision from Findlaw
• Civil War Times magazine article
• Dred Scott v. Sandford and related resources at the Library of Congress
• Mr. Lincoln and Freedom: Dred Scott
• Two Men Before The Storm: Arba Crane's Recollection of Dred Scott And the Supreme Court Case That Started the Civil War (ISBN 1-929774-36-2)
• Account of ruling by U.S. Supreme Court in Dred Scott v. Sandford as it appeared in The New York Times March 6, 1857
• Dred Scott Chronology from Washington University in St. Louis
• St. Louis Walk of Fame
• The Search for Harriet Scott's resting place
• Commemorative Events at Jefferson National Expansion Memorial for the 150th Anniversary of the Dred Scott Decision

References

1. ^ Vishneski, John. "What the Court Decided in Dred Scott v. Sandford". The American Journal of Legal History 32(4): 373-390.
2. ^ "Decision of the Supreme Court in the Dred Scott Case"