Dred Scott v Sandford 1857
Dred Scott was a slave who had been bought from the slave state of Missouri and went to live in the free state of Illinois. When he was forced to return to Missouri he felt like he should remain free. He sued in 1854 for his freedom and when the court ruled against him he appealed to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court ruled that African Americans weren’t citizens and that they could never be citizens. Dred Scott remained enslaved and the court said he had no right to file a lawsuit. Slaves didn’t have the right to sue in a US court. Justice Roger Taney said that if he ended slavery it would be taking away property and that would be violating the Fifth Amendment.
This decision made there be more tension about the issue of slavery which would lead to the Civil War. The decision made it hard for free states to prevent slave owners from bringing and selling slaves in their states. Slavery wasn’t banned until five years of Civil War had passed due to Taney’s decision.
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I like how it's concise. I vaguely remembered what this case was about but this helped refresh my memory. Nice job.
ReplyDeleteYou told the story cleanly, focusing on the important details. There are some grammatical errors, and a picture would be nice. Good job!
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