On this day, March 6, in the year 1857, a Supreme Court
decision was made which would affect slavery in America and the lives and
rights of all blacks for years to come.
Dred Scott vs. John Sandford (as it became known in the
history books) began as Scott vs. Emerson in December of 1846. This was a case
of a 50 year old black man who had lived in several Free states, including
Illinois and Missouri
; had gotten married as a free man,
and had a child that was born in a free state.
When his ‘owner’ moved the family to a slave state, Scott attempted to
purchase his freedom, but was not allowed to, so he resorted to the court
system.
The case became known as Scott vs. Sanford
when Irene Emerson transferred ownership of Dred Scott to her brother, John
F.A. Sanford.
It continued to wind its
way through the courts until 1857 when, after then President-elect James
Buchanan exerted his influence on several of the U.S. Supreme Court Justices,
Chief Justice Roger Taney authored a decision, the ramifications of which are
still being hotly debated today.
From
www.american-historama.org:
Definition and Summary: The
Dred Scott Decision was {a} sic landmark decision by the Supreme Court in
1857 that effectively ruled that slaves were property. It said that enslaved
African-Americans were property and had no rights, and that freed
African-Americans were not citizens and had no right to sue in a federal court.
In addition, the ruling of the Dred Scott Decision found that Congress could
not prohibit slavery from spreading into the western territories. This decision
invalidated the Missouri Compromise of 1820, which had placed restrictions on
slavery in certain U.S. territories.
According
to Encyclopedia Britannica:
“Among constitutional scholars, Scott
v. Sandford is widely considered the
worst decision ever rendered by the Supreme Court. It has been cited in
particular as the most egregious example in the court’s history of wrongly
imposing a judicial solution on a political problem.”
There is much more to the story of the Dred Scott decision
such as how he won but had the decision reversed; please visit the links below;
And for the kids:
