Around the 1850’s, tension between the Northern states and the Southern states was rising. The issue of slavery was a conflict that greatly contributed to this tension. The Northern and Southern people had very different views on slavery. Most of the Northern people thought that slavery was wrong, while the Southern people thought that slavery was justified. During this time, a court case filed by a black slave against his white slave master occurred and it widened the gap between them even more. The idea of a black man suing for his freedom was ridiculous to most of the Southern people. My second paragraph is about Dred Scott’s life. It will mostly be about his life before the case. The third paragraph will be information about the case in court. It will include many facts from the trials. The fourth paragraph will tell of the United States Supreme Court decision and its effects. It will also include people’s reactions to the final decision. “Dred Scott was an enslaved African American”, (Appleby 446-447). He was born into slavery in 1799. His parents were slaves of Peter Blow, who lived in Virginia. Since his parents were slaves, Dred was a slave since the time of his birth. In 1830, the Blow family moved to St. Louis, Missouri and brought Dred with them. A couple years later he was sold to Dr. John Emerson, an army doctor who at the time was stationed in St. Louis. Dr John Emerson, along with Dred, was transferred in 1834 to Rock Island, Illinois (a Free State) and then in 1836 to the military outpost in the Upper Louisiana Territory. John was stationed at each military base for a couple of years. While in the Upper Louisiana Territory, Dred met Harriet Robison who was owned by Major Taliaferro. John bought Harri... ... middle of paper ... ... Brinkley, Alan PhD; McPherson, James PhD. The American Journey. New York, New York: Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, 2003 “Dred Scott’s fight for freedom.” PBS. 26 May 2010 “The Dred Scott Decision.” StudyWorld. 1996-2010. 26 May 2010. Vbansal. “The Effects of Dred Scott V. Sanford.” Associated Content. 06 August 2007. 26 May 2010. “The Life of Dred Scott.” Social Studies for Kids. 26 May 2010 WordNet Search. 26 May 2010.
"Summary of the Decision." Landmark Cases Of The U.S Supreme Court. Street Law, Inc, n.d. Web. 1 Nov. 2013. .
Literature: Penguin Edition. The American Experience. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007. 561-562. Print.
Goldfield, David. The American Journey A History of the United States. New Jersey: Pearson 2011
King, Larry, and Cal Fussman. My Remarkable Journey. 1st ed. New York: Weinstein, 2009. Print.
Kinsella, Kate , Colleen Stump, Joyce Carrol, Kevin Feldman, and Edward Wilson. The American Experience. California ed. Monrovia, California: Prentice Hall, 2002. print.
Palmer, Elizabeth A. "The Court and Public Opinion." CQ Weekly 2 Dec. 2000. CQ Weekly. SAGE Publications. Web. 1 Mar. 2000. .
...to transfer ownership of the Scotts to Taylor Blow, Peter Blow’s son and childhood friend of Dred. On May 26, 1857 Dred and Harriet were given their freedom by Taylor Blow. After Dred and his family were freed, they were interviewed and pictures of them were published in Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper on June 27, 1840. As a free family Dred Scott worked at Barnum’s Hotel in St. Louis as a porter. Dred also delivered laundry that Harriet took in working as a free laundress for the people that they lived around.
Dred Scott was a slave. His master was an army surgeon who was based in Missouri. In the early 1830's and 1840's, his master and him traveled to Illinois and the Wisconsin territory. It was in 1846 that Scott sued his master's widow for freedom.... ...
5. Harrison, Maureen. Gilbert, Steve. Landmark Decisions of the United States Supreme Court II. La Jolla, California. Copyright 1992. By Excellent Books.
Appleby, Joyce, Alan Brinkley, James M. McPherson. The American Journey: Building a Nation. New York: Glencoe McGraw-Hill, 2000
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.
Hall, Kermit L, eds. The Oxford guide to United States Supreme Court decisions New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
Dred Scott was born as a slave in Virginia. As a young man he was taken to Missouri, where he was later sold to Dr. John Emerson. A military surgeon, Dr. John Emerson moved Scott a US Army Post in the free state of Illinois. Several years later Dr. Emerson moved once again, but this time to the Wisconsin Territory. As part of the massive Louisiana Purchase the Wisconsin Territory under the Missouri Compromise prohibited slavery. While in the Wisconsin Territory and also later in St. Louis the Emersons started to rent the Scotts out as servants. Under several state and federal laws this was an illegal act in direct violation of the Missouri Compromise, the Northwest Ordinance, and the Wisconsin Enabling Act. Scott bounced around from several military posts including one in Louisiana before ending up again in St. Louis, Missouri. After the death of Dr. Emerson, ownership of the Scotts reverted to his wife. Through out 1846 Scott tried several times to by the freedom for him and his family. After several failed attempts he resorted to the legal r...
Scott lived in free soil for approximately four (4) years. Dred Scott demanded his freedom because he felt that he was a resident now of Illinois. If this were accurate then Scott had to be free because it was free soil.
"Romer v. Evans." West's Encyclopedia of American Law. 2005. Retrieved February 21, 2011 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3437703853.html