The Civil War is an immense part of American history. It grasped battles all over the States with the Union against the Confederates, both fighting for the morals they believed were correct. Slavery was a big factor in the Civil War, with triggers that took a part in sparking the War such as, the Dred Scott v. Sanford case, the election of Abraham Lincoln, and the battle of Fort Sumter, which was the first battle of the Civil War. All of these events hold a special place in the history of the United States as they sparked the encouragement of the war between the Union and the Confederates.
The history of the Dred Scott case began with a slave by the name of Dred Scott. He was a “Virginia slave who tried to sue for his freedom in court” (“Trigger”). The case took place in 1856, however, “the controversy began in 1833 when Dred Scott was purchased by a man named John Emerson” (“Supreme”). Scott was soon moved to Wisconsin by Emerson, then soon to St. Louis along with his family. When John Emerson died in 1843, Dred Scott, and his family, were left to Emerson's wife, Eliza Irene Sanford” (“Supreme”). This is when the conflict began. After laboring for Eliza Sanford, …show more content…
The decisions that the Supreme Court declared stated that Dred Scott was not a free man from living in Illinois and the Northwest since he had returned to Missouri, and as an African American man he could not fight in court since he was not considered a US citizen (“Dred”). “The decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford exacerbated rising sectional tensions between the North and South. Antislavery forces were outraged by the decision, empowering the newly formed Republican Party and helping fuel violence between slave owners and abolitionists on the frontier”