officer in the U.S. Army, from the slave state of Missouri to the free state of Illinois and

then to the free territory of Wisconsin. He lived on free soil for a long period of time.

When the Army ordered his master to go back to Missouri, he took Scott with him back to

that slave state, where soon after his master died. In 1846, Scott was helped by

Abolitionist(anti-slavery) lawyers to sue for his freedom in court, claiming he should be

free since he had lived on free soil for a long time. The case went all the way to the

United States Supreme Court. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Roger B. Taney,

was a former slave owner from Maryland. In March of 1857, Scott lost the decision as

seven out of nine Justices on the Supreme Court declared no slave or descendant of a slave

could be a U.S. citizen, or even had been a U.S. citizen. As a non-citizen, the court stated,

Scott had no rights and could not sue in a Federal Court and must remain a slave.

At that time there were nearly 4 million slaves in America. The courts ruling

affected the status of every enslaved and free African-American in the United States. The

and analyze it from the perspective of both John Stuart Mill and John Locke.

or not. He was simply taken against his will, and forced to give up his inalienable right of

he is a man who is a rational being.

clearly seen in this extreme case. The reason for not interfering unless for the sake of

be needy of the white man. "...we may leave out of consideration those backward states of

good is on the whole best provided for by allowing him to take his own means of pursuing

general harm principle does not apply to the Dred Scott case either because indeed he is a

equally with any other man, or number of men in the world, has by nature a power, not

"Master and servant are names as old as history,but given to those of far different

In evaluating both Mill's and Locke's perspectives upon the Supreme Court's

persuading him, or entreating him, but not for compelling him or visiting him with any evil

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2489
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)