Dred Scott Case
The Dred Scott decision was formally known as Dred Scott v. John F.A Sandford. Although Dred Scott was staying in a free state where slavery was not allowed, he was entitled to his freedom. The United States Supreme Court decided that African Americans were not and could never become citizens of the United States on 6th March 1857 (Morretta, 2018). The Supreme Court, by that time, ruled in favor of slavery. Five of the nine justices came from the southern states while the other firmly proslavery. By then, slavery was highly acceptable in individual states and addressing it required some sought of courage. Since then, Dred Scott decision is considered the worst decision ever made by the Supreme Court. In fact, according to Chief justice Hughes, this was a self-inflicted wound since it a judicial solution was wrongly imposed on a political problem.
The United States Supreme Court hands down its decision on Dred Scott case, a case that increased the national divisions over slavery. Despite winning the case in the lower court, the Missouri Supreme Court reversed the ruling. Since Scott’s new master was a resident of New York, he decided to appeal the decision by the Missouri Supreme court. The federal court decided to hear the case based on the diversity of the represented state citizenship. After the court decided against his case, the appeal was brought to the United States Supreme court. The ruling by the U.S Supreme Court was divided between the slavery and antislavery lines, and of course, the southern won as it had the majority. Therefore, the type ruling was based on the majority (slavery) and minority (antislavery) whom of course the majority won. Nevertheless, the original majority opinion was supposed to be drafted by Justice Nelson and argue that Scott’s case belonged to the state court and not federal courts.
Furthermore, during the whole process, the antislavery used the case to defend the constitutionality of the Missouri Compromise. However, the southern justices responded by affirming that congress had no power to ban slavery in their territories. Besides, some these southern justices assert that African Americans that were slaves or had roots from slaves had no rights of being a federal citizen and thus lacked standing in court. It is evident that in all the rulings, in no circumstance did Scott have the right to demand his freedom. The decision by the Supreme Court stirred up the issue of slavery in the country. As a result, there was an eruption of the A American Civil war that was as a result of the unrest. The emancipation proclamation that took place in 1862 set the slaves that were living in confederacy frees (History.com. 2020). However, it took three more years for congress to end slavery in the U.S ultimately.
In conclusion, the decision by the U.S Supreme Court denied Dred Scott’s plea for emancipation. His request was based on the temporary residence in a free state which did not support slavery. According to Chief Justice Taney, Dred Scott couldn’t claim his freedom based on his place of residence in Wisconsin or Illinois. Taney argued that despite Scott’s status to begin in a Free State or state, once ho went back to Missouri, everything depends on the local law. He assumed the phrase that once free always free. Therefore, the Dred Scott decision remains in history as the worst decision that was ever made by the Supreme Court. Imposing a judicial solution to a political problem is destroying the reputation of the judiciary. The judiciary is independent and in under no circumstance can it be influenced by politics.
References
History.com. (2020). Retrieved 25 August 2020, from https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/dred-scott-case.
Morretta, A. (2018). Slavery and Citizenship: Dred Scott v. Sandford. Cavendish Square Publishing, LLC.