DRED SCOTT & THE 'DRED SCOTT CASE'
Dred Scott was an African-American man that had been born into slavery sometime around 1799, although the exact date of his birth is unknown. Dred Scott is best remembered today for the famous court case in which he challenged his status as a slave and fought to gain his freedom and the freedom of his family members. The court cause (referred to as the ‘Dred Scott Case’ or ‘Dred v. Sandford’) occurred in 1857 and was an important moment in American History. As such, the Dred Scott Case is generally considered to be significant in relation to other events, such as: the American Civil War, Slavery in the United States, and the American Abolitionist Movement.
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As stated above, Dred Scott was born into slavery in 1799 in Virginia. Throughout his life, his owners would move around frequently, living in Virginia, Alabama, Missouri, Illinois, and the northern Wisconsin territory. For instance, in 1818, his owner, Peter Blow, took Scott to Alabama, where the family attempted to run a farm. The farming operation failed and in 1830, the Blow family moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where they operated a boarding house. Scott was taken to Missouri with the Blow family, but was sold shortly after to a man named John Emerson. Emerson was a military officer in the United States Army, and moved Scott to Illinois. Scott’s time spent in Illinois and the northern Western territory was significant, because to many, his extended time living in these areas (Illinois was a ‘free state’) meant that Scott had a claim to be set free. As such, Scott’s life in Illinois was a pivotal moment in his search for freedom and out of slavery. Illinois was a ‘free state’ because it was located in the Northern states, which had begun to turn against the practise of slavery.
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Dred Scott
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There was quite a divide between the Northern and Southern states in relation to their views on slavery and the Abolitionist Movement in the 19th century. The Abolitionist Movement was the organized effort to bring an end to slavery. More specifically, the Northern states were the first to support the American Abolitionist Movement and by the end of the 18th century, most Northern states has some sort of anti-slavery legislation. However, the situation in the Southern states was much different, with most people supporting the practise of slavery well into the 19th century. In fact, by 1830 there were nearly 2 million slaves in the United States, and the vast majority of them were located in the Southern states. As such, the Southern states were economically centered on the practise of slavery, and the salve owners held a lot of financial and political influence at the time.
This divide between the north and south is important because it was central to the Dred Scott Case and his fight to escape slavery when living in the Northern state of Illinois. For instance, Scott lived in these Northern regions for a period of four years, where slavery was illegal. Furthermore, the law stated that a slave owner lost their rights to the slave as property if the slave was kept in the Northern region for an extended period. This was the central issue at the heart of what became the Dred Scott Case. It is important to note that the Dred Scott Case did not occur until years later.
Wood engraving of Dred Scott and Harriet Scott (1857).
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In the 1830s, Dred Scott met and married Harriet Robinson, who was another slave. Although, at the time, slave marriages were not legally recognized, so the marriage was a civil arrangement. John Emerson purchased Harriet and the Scott Family became his property. Dred and Harriet Scott had two daughters together: Eliza and Lizzie. Later that decade, John Emerson and his wife moved to Louisiana and sent Dred Scott and his family there as well. However, in 1840, they again all moved to the state of Missouri, which was a slave state. John Emerson died in 1843 and his slaves became property of his widow. She continued to own the Scott Family thought the mid 1840s, until Dred Scott asked to purchase his family’s freedom from her. She refused, and Dred Scott began his fight to gain freedom for himself and his family.
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Although Scott did not press the issue of gaining his freedom earlier in his life he did however seek his freedom through the court system once he had returned to the South. For instance, he waited until after John Emerson had passed away, going to trial for the first time in June of 1847. This eventually led to a series of trials that would end in the forever famous ‘Dred Scott Decision’.
As stated previously, Dred Scott’s earlier life in Illinois, when John Emerson owned him, was important in relation to his legal fight to escape slavery. This is because Illinois was a ‘free state’. At the time, the law in stated that if a slave owner kept a slave in a ‘free state’ for an extended period of time, the slave could earn their freedom. Therefore, after the death of John Emerson, Scott argued that his earlier life in Illinois should have earned him freedom from his status as a slave. Therefore, he used this as justification to fight for his own and his family’s freedom in the 1840s and 1850s.
The first trial related to Dred Scott’s freedom was called the Scott vs. Emerson trial and was begun in 1847 in a federal-state courthouse in St. Louis, Missouri. The trial was contentious and lasted several years until 1850. Eventually though, the court found in Scott’s favor, and agreed that he should have earned his freedom. The widow of John Emerson, Irene Emerson, appealed this decision, and in 1852, the Missouri Supreme Court overturned the earlier decision. Dred Scott had lost his fight in the state of Missouri but continued his legal fight under federal law. By 1853, Dred Scott was living with John Sanford, who was the brother of Irene Emerson, and against began his fight for freedom. As stated above, his fight took place in federal courts and questioned the legality of his life in slavery. Eventually, the federal case was escalated to the United States Supreme Court and became known as the Scott v Sandford Case. The misspelling (Sandford instead of Sanford) was a clerical error, and it has remained this way since this was the spelling used in the case.
Though the case took almost ten years to make it through to the legal system, Dred Scott finally had his case heard by the United States Supreme Court in 1856. In modern times, many view the Supreme Court as an honorable system that stands above political party influences and adheres only to the laws given to them by the Constitution. Although, not necessarily different during this era, there were certainly biases by each of the nine justices in terms of the issue of slavery. Seven of the nine justices were appointed by pro-slavery presidents, and five were apart of families that had slaves themselves. Eventually, the Supreme Court found that they could not try the case because Dred Scott was not a citizen, and therefore could not sue. They made this decision, because they ruled that African-Americans were not considered citizens under United States law. Another key point to the decision was that the court declared that the Missouri Compromise of 1820, which restricted slavery in certain non-state territories, was unconstitutional.
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For Dred Scott, the case was about his freedoms, but for everyone else, the key point of this entire saga was whether slavery should be allowed in the newly formed West. The end result, with the Missouri Compromise no longer applying, meant that new territories could essentially allow slavery no matter where they were in the non-state territories. Naturally, the Northerners were upset by this decision, and had no plans to abide by the new rules. Abraham Lincoln and his cohorts felt like this was simply the first step to the Supreme Court declaring that no state could exclude slavery under the Constitution. After Congress and the President had failed to come up with a viable solution to how newly founded territories were to address the issue of slavery, many felt like the Supreme Court would be the branch to accomplish the task, but with only half the country accepting their answer, hopelessness began to spring up.
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'Civil War Battle Scene' by William B.T. Trego (1887).
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The Dred Scott Case was one of the final straws that broke the Union’s back prior to the American Civil War and led to increased tensions across the United States in relation to the issue of slavery. The two sides of the country were in complete disarray and there was seemingly nothing that could be done to unify them on the issues of slavery.
While Dred Scott had lost his legal battle for freedom, he was eventually purchased by supporters and set free. More specifically, Dred Scott and his family were given their freedom on May 26th in 1857. However, Dred Scott died months later, on September 17th in 1858 from tuberculosis. His battle for freedom from slavery remains an important historical topic in American History, especially in relation to slavery in the United States, the American Civil War and the Abolitionist Movement.
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