Dred scott
Dred scottThe Dred Scott Decision
There have been several cases in the history of the Supreme Court that have had a powerful impact on both the highest court of the land and the history of the United States. The Dred Scott decision can definitely be included in this category of monumental cases that changed the course of American history. Until this decision the Supreme Court had a flawless reputation. Its prestige and credibility were beyond reproach. This high regard for the Supreme Court made people on both sides of the slavery issue turn to it in the hope that what could not be resolved in the political world could be solved in the legal world by the highest court of the land. But this was really expecting too much of judicial power. The major error associated with this case was the misguided belief that a flaming political problem,slavery, could become manageable by calling it a legal problem and handing it over to the courts to resolve.In the Dred Scott case the decision was based on "expediency not principle." The big problem was trying to use judicial power to settle a major political problem. Although the Dred Scott decision may have been the result of a trial , in reality it was a case of the court battling with the complex issue of slavery, especially in the territories, in the mid l800's.In order to tell the story of a slave you have to tell the story of his master.The slave does not have an identity or history of his own. In Virginia, Peter Blow and his family had many slaves. Among these slaves was a young man named Sam, or as we know him today, Dred Scott.
Peter Blow decided to move his estate to Alabama and then to the thriving port city of St. Louis. During these years ,Dred married and had a child.
After the death of the Blows, Dred was sold to Dr. Emerson, an army surgeon. He and Scott traveled through Illinois and Minnesota. When Dr. Emerson died , Dred Scott was sent back to St. Louis to Mrs. Emerson. This was when Scott argued that under the terms of the Missouri Compromise, the fact that he and Dr. Emerson lived in Illinois and Minnesota made him a free man. The Missouri Compromise did not allow slavery in whatever territory that remained from the Louisiana Purchase north of a specific line, 36o 30' of north latitude.
At this time the issue of slavery was a major concern. The Mexican War provided the United States with a lot of new territory, and the question of the future of slavery in the territories was on everyones mind. The people of the North who were against slavery wanted Congress to prohibit slavery in the territories.
John C. Calhoun, the spokesman for the South, said that Congress did not have the right to prohibit slavery in the territories. The Southern attempt to extend the line of the Missouri Compromise failed,...
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