dred scott case

Dred Scott was a black slave whose case went to the U.S supreme court, march of 1857. His case pleaded that he was free. It stated so because Scott had lived in the slave state of Missouri but had traveled and lived in the free states of Illinois and Wisconsin; therefore, he should have been considered a free man. The U.S Supreme Court ruled in favor of the owner stating that slaves were property. The ruling also affirmed that blacks, even if freed, were still not citizens, hence, Dred Scott could not sue against a white man. This reigning greatly privileged the southern view of slavery. This lead to even greater ideological divide between the north and the south.  The dred scott case, as well as the judge that led the united states supreme court, declared the 1830 Missouri compromise unconstitutional, like so, permitting slavery in all of the country’s territories. 

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