Dred Scott Decision

A detailed Summary of Dred Scott Decision

The Dred Scott Case had a huge impact on the United States as it is today. The Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments have called it the worst Supreme Court decision ever rendered and was later overturned. The Dred Scott Decision was a key case regarding the issue of slavery; the case started as a slave seeking his rightful freedom and mushroomed into a whole lot more. 65

The reason why Dred Scott decided to pursue his freedom is unknown, but there are a couple theories. For example, it is believed that "most likely, Scott decided to bring his case to court after years of [talks] with other slaves that had done the same." (Herda, 30) This shows that, Scott was not an ignorant, uninformed man and had reason to believe he could obtain freedom for himself and his family. This also shows that he took a long look at the issue before making the decision to sue for his freedom. In addition, he may have also been convinced by "several talks with his old friends, the Blows, who were sympathetic to his troubles." (Herda, 30) This shows that his previous owners, turned friends, the Blows, may have been a major influence; being Scott's staunch supporters throughout his life. This also shows that the Blows encouragement, on top of

In Conclusion, the Dred Scott Decision took a long drawn out journey through the court system to be literally, and figuratively dismissed. It addressed a subject, which was not popular, freedom for slaves, and went through several courts, without receiving any merit. While it is not a well-known case, it is on point as to the conflicts over slavery, and how they led to the Civil War. It has been considered the worst decision ever made by the Supreme Court, and for good reason. 84

Once before the Supreme Court, Scott's fourth attorney, Montgomery Blair, found himself facing a reluctant court. For example, he had to prove to the chief justices that, "Scott had a right to be free because he had lived in Illinois, a free state." (Herda, 50) This shows that the court was reticent to entertain the notion that a slave could be free. This also shows that the court wanted to avoid expanding the ability to declare slaves free. In addition to Mr. Blair's stance that Scott's time in free states freed him from slavery, Mr. Blair's argument incorporated a prior ruling which he hoped would influence the Supreme Court to rule that free Negro's were United States citizens, "[It] concentrated on winning a point that the lower court had already agreed was valid ... that free Negro's were citizens and, thus, qualified to bring a suit in Federal Court." (Herda, 50) This shows that, while Scott's attorney thought he was ingenious in introducing a prior ruling, the Supreme Court used the wording of the decision to find that the state courts had no authority to hear the matter, so the case should be dismissed entirely, then nullified the validity of the finding in regard to the Federal Court. This also shows that, interpretation is the key to the law and can work for or against a case, and can allow for biased decisions. In conclusion, Scott's attorney was trying to use a lower court finding to influence the upper court's ruling, and found that the court one upped him, and used the ruling against him in an unexpected manner, then blocked his ability to argue the matter any further in Federal courts. 282

It is also possible that his

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Approximate Word count = 1442
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History