Dred Scott Court Case
Who was involved?
What happened? Summarize the event.
Where did the event take place?
When did the event take place?
Why is this important to Georgia's history?
The Dred Scott Court Case involved Dred Scott, an enslaved African American man, and his owner, John Emerson. Scott claimed that his residence in Illinois and the Wisconsin Territory, where slavery was prohibited, made him free under the Missouri Compromise.
In 1857, the United States Supreme Court ruled in the case of Dred Scott v. Sandford. The Court decided against Scott, stating that African Americans, whether enslaved or free, were not and could not be citizens of the United States and therefore had no standing to sue in a federal court.
The event took place primarily in Missouri, where Scott initially filed his lawsuit, but eventually reached the United States Supreme Court.
The Dred Scott decision was handed down by the United States Supreme Court on March 6, 1857.
The Dred Scott Court Case is important to Georgia's history as it further reinforced the legality of slavery and denied the possibility of African Americans achieving citizenship and equality. This decision, with its pro-slavery stance, heightened tensions between the North and South and was one of the contributing factors to the outbreak of the American Civil War. It also highlighted the stark contrast between the beliefs and values of the North and South regarding slavery, ultimately leading to Georgia's secession from the Union in 1861.