Dred Scott: The Blow Family

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Dred Scott was born in 1799. It is unclear exactly where Mr. Scott was born, or how the Blow family was able to obtain Dred Scott. However, it was clear that he was born a slave, property his entire life. He was a slave of the Peter Blow family (The Dred Scott Decision-Northern Abolitionist, 1996). However, due to financial problems, his master had to sell him. It took several years to sell him because of his age. He was purchased by a military surgeon, Dr. John Emerson. As a result of the military policy, Dr. Emerson was reassigned to military bases throughout free slave territories in the mid-west, mainly St. Louis, Illinois (Ryan, 2014). Slavery had been prohibited by the Missouri Compromise of 1820 (Dred Scott's Fight for Freedom, 2014). …show more content…

The court was going to uphold the rights of slave-owners in the state at all costs (Ryan, 2014). The south wanted to impose their rule on north. The country was divided on the slavery issue. Not all Americans agreed with slavery. Dred Scott was able to find a team of lawyers that hated all forms of slavery. The wanted to do everything they could to help free his family. His team took his case to federal court, the United States Circuit Court in Missouri (Dred Scott's Fight for Freedom, 2014). It was difficult to determine the biases of the nine justices on slavery. Nonetheless, his team presented Mr. Scott’s case as best as they could. Chief Justice Roger Taney delivered the verdict. Seven of the nine justices agreed on the most momentous events in African American History. He ruled that no slave of African ancestry could not become a citizen of the United States, therefore prohibiting the right to sue. Moreover, they ruled that the federal government had no right to prohibit slavery in the new territories (History of Dred Scott, 2014). They used the constitution as evidence. They ruled that the Missouri Compromise of 1820 was unconstitutional. They indicated that slavery could not be outlawed or restricted within the United States (The Dredd Scott Decision (32a.), 2008-2014). It depriving a citizen the right of their own …show more content…

It began numerous events that led up to freeing of all slaves. Anti-slavery leader, Abraham Lincoln, in the North read about the controversial Supreme Court decision and was disgusted with the verdict and vowed to prohibit slavery in all territories of American (The Dred Scott Decision-Northern Abolitionist, 1996). Conversely, many southern Americans agreed with the court decision and wanted to extend southern culture throughout the nation (The Dred Scott Decision-Northern Abolitionist, 1996). They wanted to use a means of Cultural Hegemony throughout the nation in order for complete control of the union.
What is cultural hegemony? How does it relate to the Dred Scott decision? Cultural hegemony is the idea that one nation or culture, either direct or merely by their dominant position in the world, exerts their influence into how other cultures should conduct themselves (what is cultural hegemony). This describes American to the rest of the

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