Dred Scott had been enslaved for many years in Missouri later he moved with his owner who had an army who was an Army surgeon to Illinois then to Wisconsin Territory where slavery was not allowed after they returned to Missouri Scott's owner died the owner's wife took ownership of Scott and eventually those rights transferred to her brother John Sanford anti-slavery lawyers helped Scott to file a lawsuit a legal case brought to settle a dispute between people or groups Scott's lawyers argued that because Scott had lived in a free territory he had become a free man according to Dred Scott's lawsuit how had his rights been violated
According to Dred Scott's lawsuit, his rights had been violated because he had resided in a free territory (Wisconsin Territory) where slavery was not allowed. His lawyers argued that this residency in a free territory should have made him a free man, and therefore, his continued enslavement in Missouri was a violation of his rights.
