Essay On The Dred Scott Case

In the case of Dred Scott v. Sanford which was decided on in 1857, it was decided by the supreme court that African americans- free and unfree were not considered citizens of America and were not allowed to sue in civil court. The court also ruled as noted by Alex McBride that “That Congress lacked power to ban slavery in U.S territory and that the rights of slave owners were protected by the fifth amendment because slaves were to be considered as property and not citizens.
In the time around the dred scott cases slavery was banned in some states via the missouri compromise. Dred Scott had been living in along with his family had lived in a U.S territory where slavery was banned. Scott argued that since he had lived in that territory for a while that he and his family should have ultimately been granted freedom. Dred Scott also tried to sue for the wages that had been held from him while the case had been in motion which ended in the court ruling in favor of John Sanford.
Ultimately the court claimed that they could not take the case because they could only hear cases from certain groups for a specific set of claims and that based off of the constitution-
Sandford, 60 U.S. 393 (1857)” one of those cases was Rachel v. Walker an enslaved woman who had live with her owner about the same time of the Scott's residence in Fort Snelling. The fact that they ruled in favor of the enslaved woman Rachel kind of showcases how the case could have been negatively influenced and why it's such a memorable