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
replied with a plea of abatement on the grounds that Dred Scott was not a citizen of Missouri because his ancestors came to the United States as slaves. Since Dred is not a citizen, he cannot file a claim in a federal court. The plea of abatement was denied because the judge claimed that Scott was a citizen. After the trial the judge secretly informed the jury to vote against Scott; this is what the jury did. of slavery, especially in the territories, in the mid l800's.In order to tell the story of a slave you have to tell the story of his master.The slave does not have an identity or history of his own. In Virginia, Peter Blow and his family had many slaves. Among these slaves was a young man named Sam, or as we know him today, Dred Scott. With much debate, Congress was hopelessly deadlocked. The Senate would not approve any provision or law which denied the right of Congress to prohibit slavery in the territories. The House did not approve any package which included the right of Congress to prohibit slavery in the territories. The situation was completely inflexible . It appeared as though nothing would change the situation in Congress.It was decided by the South and agreed upon by the North that there was but one solution to the mess that the Union had gotten itself into: getting the judiciary involved. So there it is . It is all up to the courts, through the trials of a few cases,to decide upon the complex and heavily debated issue of slavery. This is why the case of Dred Scott played such an important role in American history. After hearing the case, the judges wanted to rule in favor of Sanford. This is an example of using the law to get the results that you want. The judges wanted to use the law to promote the view of the United States that they considered most desirable. They could not decide on what legal principle their decision should be based. Some judges wanted to override Scott's status as a citizen. Justice Nelson said that since this case was so controversial, and the election of l856 was so controversial, they should wait until after the election to hear new arguments. This request was granted. At this time the issue of slavery was a major concern. The Mexican War provided the United States with a lot of new territory, and the question of the future of slavery in the territories was on everyones mind. The people of the North who were against slavery wanted Congress to prohibit slavery in the territories. 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 bears directly on the Civil War. It not only strengthened the Republican Party but it also angered them t
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Approximate Word count = 2100
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)
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