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The Dred Scott Decision | Teach US History

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//--><!]]> </script> </head> <body class="html not-front not-logged-in one-sidebar sidebar-first page-node page-node- page-node-25 node-type-page section-dred-scott-decision section-node-view" > <div id="page-wrapper"><div id="page"> <div id="logo-title"> <div class="replace" id="logo"><a href="/" title="Home" rel="home"><em></em>Teach US History</a></div> </div> <div id="header"><div class="section clearfix"> </div></div><!-- /.section, /#header --> <div id="main-wrapper"><div id="main" class="clearfix"> <div id="content" class="column"> <a id="main-content"></a> <div class="section"> <h1 class="title" id="page-title">The Dred Scott Decision</h1> <div class="region region-content"> <div id="block-system-main" class="block block-system first last odd"> <div class="content"> <div id="node-25" class="node node-page view-mode-full clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p> <br /> The <em>Dred</em> <em>Scott v. Sanford</em> Supreme Court case was a landmark decision in terms of slavery and anti-slavery arguments in antebellum America. Scott was a slave who was taken out of slave territory when his master, an army surgeon, moved to Illinois and then to Fort Snelling, in present-day Minnesota, during the 1830s. Scott sued for his freedom because he was taken out of slave territory, arguing that the Missouri Compromise prohibited slavery in Minnesota. The ruling in the case by Chief Justice Roger Taney stated that Scott and his family were slaves, not citizens, and did not have the right to sue in a federal court. In addition, the Court ruled that Scott's tenure in free territory did not make him a free man, and furthermore, that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional. Banning slavery conflicted with Article V of the Constitution, which stated that citizens could not be "deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law," and slaves were considered property. As a result of the ruling, proslavery advocates felt their stance was reinforced and had gained the sanction of the law, while anti-slavery forces were furious. Republicans in particular condemned the decision and its implications that slavery could spread to the north. </p> <p class="sponsorlogos"><img alt="National Endowment for the Humanities" height="70" src="/files/logos/neh.gif" width="132" /><img alt="We the People" height="50" src="/files/logos/wtp-t.gif" width="104" /><img alt="American Antiquarian Society" height="50" src="/files/logos/aas.gif" width="81" /><img alt="Old Sturbridge Villages" height="75" src="/files/logos/osv.gif" width="97" /><img alt="Worcester Public Schools" height="80" src="/files/logos/wps80.gif" width="80" /><img alt="Assumption College" height="80" src="/files/logos/assumption.gif" width="116" /> </p> </div></div></div> </div> </div><!-- /.node --> </div> </div><!-- /.block --> </div><!-- /.region --> </div></div><!-- /.section, /#content --> <div class="region region-sidebar-first column sidebar"><div class="section"> <div id="block-system-main-menu" class="block block-system block-menu first odd"> <div class="content"> <ul class="menu"><li class="first collapsed"><a href="/about-us">About Us</a></li> <li class="collapsed"><a href="/american-revolution">The American Revolution</a></li> <li class="collapsed"><a href="/indian-removal">Indian Removal</a></li> <li class="collapsed"><a href="/isaiah-thomas-patriot-printer" title="Isaiah Thomas - Patriot Printer">Isaiah Thomas - Patriot Printer</a></li> <li class="collapsed"><a href="/life-antebellum-america">Life in Antebellum America</a></li> <li class="leaf"><a href="http://www.teachushistory.org/Temperance/">Temperance Reform in the Early 19th Century</a></li> <li class="expanded active-trail"><a href="/dred-scott-decision" class="active-trail active">The Dred Scott Decision</a><ul class="menu"><li class="first leaf"><a href="/dred-scott-decision/overview">Overview</a></li> <li class="leaf"><a href="/dred-scott-decision/approaches">Approaches</a></li> <li class="collapsed"><a href="/dred-scott-decision/lesson-plans">Lesson Plans</a></li> <li class="last collapsed"><a href="/dred-scott-decision/resources">Resources</a></li> </ul></li> <li class="collapsed"><a href="/kansas-nebraska-act-bleeding-kansas">The Kansas-Nebraska Act and Bleeding Kansas</a></li> <li class="collapsed"><a href="/second-great-awakening-age-reform">The Second Great Awakening and the Age of Reform</a></li> <li class="collapsed"><a href="/war-1812-hartford-convention" title="The War of 1812 and the Hartford Convention">War of 1812 and the Hartford Convention</a></li> <li class="last leaf"><a href="http://www.teachushistory.org/Westward/">Westward Expansion</a></li> </ul> </div> </div><!-- /.block --> <div id="block-menu-menu-in-development" class="block block-menu even"> <h2 class="block-title">In Development</h2> <div class="content"> <ul class="menu"><li class="first collapsed"><a href="/nineteenth-century-immigration">Nineteenth-Century Immigration</a></li> <li class="last collapsed"><a href="/civil-war" title="The Civil War (under development)">The Civil War</a></li> </ul> </div> </div><!-- /.block --> <div id="block-search-form" class="block block-search last odd"> <div class="content"> <form action="/dred-scott-decision" method="post" id="search-block-form" accept-charset="UTF-8"><div><div class="container-inline"> <h2 class="element-invisible">Search form</h2> <div class="form-item form-type-textfield form-item-search-block-form"> <label class="element-invisible" for="edit-search-block-form--2">Search </label> <input title="Enter the terms you wish to search for." type="text" id="edit-search-block-form--2" name="search_block_form" value="" size="15" maxlength="128" class="form-text" /> </div> <div class="form-actions form-wrapper" id="edit-actions"><input type="submit" id="edit-submit" name="op" value="Search" class="form-submit" /></div><input type="hidden" name="form_build_id" value="form-_m2yzU_FIY7BhD69mDb27xoyzurp39_1VDxC8m7c7E4" /> <input type="hidden" name="form_id" value="search_block_form" /> </div> </div></form> </div> </div><!-- /.block --> </div></div><!-- /.section, /.region --> </div></div><!-- /#main, /#main-wrapper --> <div id="footer"><div class="section"> <div class="region region-footer"> <div id="block-block-1" class="block block-block first last odd"> <div class="content"> <p>Teach US History - 508-755-5221聽- <a class="mailto-link" href="mailto:jmoran@mwa.org"> <span id="7fcabfe4911afec8b5b8fd80ef54fc7b1cfad1d3"></span> <script type="text/javascript"> <!--//--><![CDATA[// ><!-- <!-- document.getElementById('7fcabfe4911afec8b5b8fd80ef54fc7b1cfad1d3').innerHTML = '&#108;&#105;&#98;&#114;&#97;&#114;&#121;&#64;&#109;&#119;&#97;&#46;&#111;&#114;&#103;'; 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