Dred Scott Court Case
Who was involved? Think about the people or groups who were involved and affected by this event.
What happened? Summarize the event!
Where did the event take place?
When did the event take place?
Why is this event important to Georgia’s history?
The Dred Scott Court Case involved several people. Dred Scott was an enslaved African American man who had lived in states and territories where slavery was illegal. His owner, John Emerson, took him to Missouri, a slave state, and Scott lived there for many years. After Emerson's death, Scott sued his owner's widow, claiming that he should be granted his freedom because he had resided in free territories. The case reached the Supreme Court, with Chief Justice Roger B. Taney leading the decision. The decision ruled against Scott, stating that enslaved African Americans were property and not citizens with rights.
The event took place in the United States, with the Supreme Court hearing the case in Washington, D.C.
The Dred Scott Court case occurred between 1846 and 1857, with the final decision announced on March 6, 1857.
The case's significance extends beyond Georgia's history and is important to the nation as a whole. However, Georgia, as a southern state with a heavy reliance on slavery at the time, was impacted by the court's decision. The ruling cemented the belief that enslaved individuals were considered property, regardless of their location, and thus had no rights as citizens. This decision strengthened the pro-slavery arguments in Georgia and other southern states, ultimately contributing to the growing divide between the North and the South leading up to the American Civil War.