Dred Scott v. Sandford facts for kids

60 U.S. 393 (1857) was a U.S. Supreme Court decision that changed history. In March 1857, the court decided that Black people who were descendants of slaves, whether they were free or still enslaved, were not citizens of the United States. Because they were not citizens, they could not sue in a federal court.

Dred Scott had sued in federal court. He said he should be free because he had lived in free territory. He lost his case. Many people have called this ruling the Supreme Court's worst decision ever. This case ended many years of legal battles for Dred Scott, which had started in 1846.

Dr. John Emerson was a surgeon in the U.S. Army. In 1833, he bought Dred Scott, who was enslaved in Missouri. That same year, Emerson moved to Illinois and took Scott with him. Later, Emerson was sent to a fort in the Wisconsin Territory. Scott, still enslaved, went with him.

While living in the Wisconsin territory (which is now Minnesota), Scott met and married Harriet Robinson. She was enslaved by a justice of the peace. After Scott and Harriet married, Emerson also became Harriet's owner. Later, Emerson returned to Missouri, taking his enslaved people with him. In 1843, Emerson died in Missouri. Scott and his family were then left to Emerson's wife, Eliza Sandford.

The Supreme Court Case

In 1846, Scott sued for his freedom in court. Abolitionist lawyers helped him. He argued that he should be free because he had lived in free states for a long time. The lawyers for the defense said that Dr. Emerson had to move to the Wisconsin territory because he was in the United States Army. They argued he should be allowed to keep his property.

The main judge, Roger B. Taney, decided that Scott was not free. He also said that Scott did not have the right to sue in federal court. Judge Taney also stated that Congress could not make laws that stopped slavery in U.S. territories. This was the majority opinion, with seven out of nine Justices agreeing.

The dissenting justices disagreed. They said that when the Constitution was first approved, African Americans were already considered citizens in some states.

The ruling was a big problem for the anti-slavery movement. The Republicans strongly criticized the decision. It seemed to allow slavery in the northern states. This case became a major topic in the slavery debates across the U.S.. In 1868, the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution changed the Dred Scott decision. It gave citizenship to all people born or naturalized in the United States, no matter their race.

Soon after the court decision in 1857, Eliza Sandford sold Scott and his family to Taylor Blow. Blow (who had owned Scott before) then gave Scott and his family their freedom. Dred Scott died a free man on September 17, 1858. He did not live long enough to see African Americans become United States citizens.

Other Important Supreme Court Cases

The Dred Scott case is one of only a few decisions by the Supreme Court that were later changed by an amendment to the U.S. Constitution. This shows how important and rare such changes are. Other cases that were overturned by amendments include:

• Chisholm v. Georgia, which was overturned by the Eleventh Amendment.
• Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co., which was overturned by the Sixteenth Amendment.
• Oregon v. Mitchell, which was reversed by the Twenty-sixth Amendment.

Another case, Minor v. Happersett, was indirectly overturned by the Nineteenth Amendment. In 1875, Virginia Minor tried to get women the right to vote. She argued the Fourteenth Amendment gave citizens the right to vote. The Court said it did not. The Nineteenth Amendment, passed 45 years later, finally gave women the right to vote.

Related pages

• Slavery
• American Civil War
• Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
• Smith v. Allwright

Images for kids

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  Judgment in the U.S. Supreme Court Case Dred Scott v. John F. A. Sandford

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  Dred Scott

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  Chief justice Roger Taney, who wrote the main opinion in the Supreme Court's Dred Scott decision

See also

In Spanish: Caso Dred Scott contra Sandford para niños