dred scott
There have been several cases in the history of the Supreme Court that have had a powerful impact on both the highest court of the land and the history of the United States. The Dred Scott decision can definitely be included in this category of monumental cases that changed the course of American history. Until this decision the Supreme Court had a flawless reputation. Its prestige and credibility were beyond reproach. This high regard for the Supreme Court made people on both sides of the slavery issue turn to it in the hope that what could not be resolved in the political world could be solved in the legal world by the highest court of the land. But this was really expecting too much of judicial power. The major error associated with this case was the misguided belief that a flaming political problem,slavery, could become manageable by calling it a legal problem and handing it over to the courts to resolve.In the Dred Scott case the decision was based on "expediency not principle." The big problem was trying to use judicial power to settle a major political problem. Although the Dred Scott decision may have been the result of a trial , in reality it was a case of the court battling with the complex issue
In l86l-1862, two very important things happened : Abraham Lincoln was elected president and Congress prohibited slavery in the territories without judicial restraint. These two things helped the North gain power. People were very upset with the Dred Scott ruling, even after his death. Other cases received similar verdicts and were not judged by the merits of the individual cases, but by the issue of slavery. People were not getting fair trials even though they were insured fair trials by the Constitution of the United States of America. The Dred Scott case made the common folk aware of slavery and its horrors. It added much more depth to the newly formed Free Soil and Republican Parties. But it was also used as a weapon for the Democrats. Every time the issue of judiciary involvement came up, they just pointed to the Dred Scott case. Republicans said it was just proof of Southern unfairness, and a good reason to fight against them. The Dred Scott case bears directly on the Civil War. It not only strengthened the Republican Party but it also angered them to the point that they were ready to fight in a war. There was a war and the North prevailed. This war marked the end of slavery, but was one of the most traumatic events in the history of the United States. Calhoun presented his ideas to Congress, telling them that the territories belong to the states and since Congress is merely the agent of the states, it has no right to prohibit slavery. It all came down to whether or not you believe that state's rights are more important than federal rights or vice versa. Many debates, including the Lincoln-Douglas Debate, focused on this hot issue. John C. Calhoun, the spokesman for the South, said that Congress did not have the right to prohibit slavery in the territories. The Southern attempt to extend the line of the Missouri Compromise failed, so their only hope was Calhoun's constitutional criticism of Congress' attempt to prohibit slavery in the territories.This was why they plunged themselves completely behind Calhoun's ideas. Calhoun argued that the territories were "the common property of the states of this Union. They are called the' territories of the United States,' and what are the ' United States' but the States united? Sir, these territories are the property of the States united; held jointly for their common use." This statement beautifully illustrates how extreme the Southern view of state sovereignty was. It was the Southern belief that the states should have the right to declare slavery in their states and it is beyond congressional power to prohibit slavery. Peter Blow decided to move his estate to Alabama and then to the thriving port city of St. Louis. During these years ,Dred married and had a child. Scott claimed freedom because of his stay in Minnesota and Illinois.After Dr. Emerson died, Scott became the property of Mrs. Emerson. When she remarried she gave Dred to her brother, Sanford , who regarded Dred as his property. Sanford said that even though Dred Scott had been in territories that prohibited slavery, his voluntary return to St. Louis, a slave bearing state
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Approximate Word count = 2100
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)
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