Dred Scott vs Sandford Post

The Dred Scott vs Sandford case of 1857 is considered to be one of the worst and most controversial decisions ever handed down by the Supreme Court. But before you make up your mind, take a look at some background for the case.

Dred Scott was a slave living with his owner, John Emerson in the slave state of Missouri. In 1834 emerson was serving in the military and decided to move from Missouri to Illinois, which was a free state, and the to Wisconsin, another free state. During the 1840's John Emerson and his wife returned with Dred Scott and his wife to Missouri. After John Emerson's death in 1843, Dred Scott tried to purchase his freedom from Emerson's wife; she refused the sale and Scott, along with his wife filed lawsuits for their freedom in Missouri state court in St. Louis on the grounds that their residence in a free state and a free territory had freed them from the bonds of slavery.

The final decision of the case was that the U.S Supreme Court on March 6, 1857, ruled (7–2) that a slave, Dred Scott, who had resided in a free state and territory was not thereby entitled to his freedom; that African Americans were not and could never be citizens of the United States; and that the Missouri Compromise (1820), which had declared free all territories west of Missouri and north of latitude 36°30′, was unconstitutional. The decision added fuel to the sectional controversy and pushed the country closer to civil war.

Read More:

https://www.britannica.com/event/Dred-Scott-decision

https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=3231372247892780026&q=dred+scott+v+sandford&hl=en&as_sdt=3,34