Dred Scott

Dred Scott:
The Slave Who Sued for
Freedom

Who was Dred Scott?

Dred Scott was a man who was born a slave.

He used the courtstotrygaining his freedom.

His case went to the Supreme Court.

When his case reached the U.S. Supreme Court, the
conflict grew between

When his case reached the U.S. Supreme Court, the
conflict grew between

Americans who were proslavery
v.
Americans who wereabolitionists.

Americans argued with each other about Dred Scott‟s
case.

If you understand Dred Scott‟s story, you can
understand more about how the Civil War started
between northern states and southern states.

Local and State Courts Federal Courts

United States
Supreme Court

State
Supreme Courts

State United States
Courts of Appeal Courts of Appeals

States United States
District Courts District Courts

Local Courts

If you understand Dred Scott‟s story, you can understand more about theUnited States Court
System.

Dred Scott was born a slave in Southampton County,
Virginia around 1799.

He was owned by Peter Blow and Elizabeth
Taylor Blow.

Dred was friendly with their children.

This is a picture of Dred Scott when he was about 55 years old.

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/congestion/state_information/images/us_map.gif

Dred
Scott:
born in VA
about
1799.

In 1818, when Dred Scott was a young man, he moved
two times with the Blows, their six children and
several other slaves.

First, they moved to a cotton plantation in Alabama.
The Blows were not successful farmers. They moved
to the big city of St. Louis, Missouri to work in the
hotel business.


St.
Louis,
Missouri

Scott continued to work for the Blows for twelve
years.
Later, the Blow family sold Dred Scott to John
Emerson, an army doctor.

Dr. Emerson traveled with the army to free & slave

states: Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Louisiana & Florida.

In 1836, Dr. Emerson was working at Fort Snelling in
Minnesota.

Fort Snelling

is near St.
Paul,
Minnesota


Minnesota: a
free state

At Fort Snelling, Dred Scott met a teen-aged slave,
Harriet Robinson. Harriet‟s master permitted her to
marry Dred Scott.

Dr. Emerson paid for Harriet so the married couple
could stay together.

Harriet and Dred Scott, around 1858.

Dr. Emerson moved to Louisiana. There, Dr.
Emerson married Irene Sanford.

Dred Scott and Harriet stayed in Fort Snelling without
their master. They were “hired out.”

Hired out?
What does that mean?

Slaves who were hired out
worked for other bosses and
earned money.

Lots of times, hired slaves
kept the money.

Other times, masters kept
the money.

Around 1843, the Emersons and the Scotts returned
to St. Louis.

In St. Louis, Dred and Harriet Scott were hired out
again. They probably were able to keep some of their
money because they had their own house in St. Louis.

But they were still slaves.

Dred and Harriet Scott had four children. Two sons
died when they were babies.
Their two daughters were Eliza and Lizzie.

In 1843, Dr. Emerson died unexpectedly. He was
only 40 years old.
Dred, Harriet, Eliza and Lizzy Scott became the
property of Dr. Emerson‟s widow, Irene Emerson.

In 1846, Dred and Harriet Scott filed lawsuits
against Irene Emerson.

http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/africanamerican/scott/images/8744-03.jpg

They filed their lawsuits here in the Old Courthouse
building of St. Louis.

We do not know why Dred and Harriet Scott sued for
freedom at this time.
Here are possible reasons:
1. Maybe they were tired of not keeping their hiring out
money;
2. Maybe Mrs. Emerson was planning to sell the Scotts;
3. Maybe they offered to pay for their freedom but Mrs.
Emerson refused.
4. Maybe they wanted freedom for their daughters.

We lived many years in free
states. Why should we still live
as slaves?

http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/africanamerican/scott/images/8744-03.jpg

Courts in Missouri followed this law: “Once free,
always free”.

We were not the first slaves to
sue for freedom. About 300
other slaves sued for freedom
in Missouri.About half were
successful. We thought we
would win our case.

Local and State Courts

Local Courts

The Scotts sued at the local court level.

There were two trials. The Scotts lost the first trial
in 1847.

in 1847. In 1850, the court in the second trial decided
the Scotts must be free.

in 1847. In 1850, the court in the second trial decided
the Scotts must be free. This court added that Mrs.
Emerson owed the Scotts money she earned from
hiring them out.

Mrs. Emerson appealed to the Missouri State
Supreme Court.

Mrs. Emerson appealed* to the Missouri State
Supreme Court.

*appeal = ask a higher court for a new trial

Local and State Courts

State
Supreme Courts

State
Courts of Appeal

United States
District Courts

Local Courts

The Missouri State Supreme Court held a third
trial in 1852. The State Supreme Court decided the
Scotts must remain slaves.

I am St. Louis lawyer Roswell Field. I
spent six years working in the courts to
free the Scott family.

http://shs.umsystem.edu/famousmissourians/leaders/dscott/dscottroswell.html

In 1854, Irene Emerson moved east near her brother.
She transferred her ownership of Dred Scott to her
brother, John Sanford from New York State.

Because the case involved people from two
different states, it moved from Missouri State Court
to U.S. Federal Court.


State
Supreme Courts

State United States

United States
District Courts

Local Courts

The case moved from the Missouri state courts to the Federal courts.

So, we sued our new owner, Mr.
Sanford, in our fourth trial in
Federal Court.

The Scotts lost their fourth trial. The Federal Court
decided that the Scotts were not citizens, so they had
no right to sue for freedom.

We appealed that decision in
our fifth trial in Federal Court.


United States
Supreme Court

State
Supreme Courts

State United States

United States
District Courts

Local Courts

I‟m Montgomery Blair. In
1856, I went to the Supreme
Court in Washington, D.C.,
to argue the case for the
Scotts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Montgomery_Blair,_photo_three-quarters_length_seated.jpg

I had to use state laws and
the U.S. Constitution to
convince the nine Supreme
Court Justices that my
arguments are correct.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Montgomery_Blair,_photo_three-quarters_length_seated.jpg

Nine judges sit on the Supreme Court.

The Judges are called „Justices.‟

They are appointed by the President and approved by Congress.

Supreme Court Justices‟ terms are for life.

This is where the Supreme Curt meets today. This building was
completed in 1935.
During the time of Dred Scott, the court met inside the U.S.
Capitol building.

The U.S. Capitol in 1850.
The U.S. Capitol building today.

Today‟s Supreme Courtroom.

The
Chief Justice
sits here.

The interior of the Supreme Court in 1857.

The
Chief Justice
sat here.

Seven of the Supreme Court Justices supported the rights of slave owners.

12 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/africanamerican/scott/scott.asp
Roger B. Taney
Credit: Missouri Historical Society

I‟m Chief Justice Roger
Taney.

Roger B. Taney

I was born in the southern
state of Maryland. We
were a slave-holding
family. Our slaves worked
on our large plantation.

Roger B. Taney

I had slaves, but I set
them free.
I believe slavery
should be permitted. In
my opinion, Congress has
no right to change slave
laws.

In the Supreme Court, I
argued that “freedom based
on residence in a free state
was permanent.”

“A Negro of African descent
could be a citizen of the
United States.”

On March 6, 1857, Dred and Harriet Scott finally
received a decision about their suit for freedom.

Roger B. Taney

…the enslaved African race
were not intended to be
included, and formed no part
of the people who framed and
adopted the Declaration
ofIndependence . . ."

Roger B. Taney

African Americans, free
or slave, could not be
citizens of any state, that
they were "of an inferior
order, and altogether unfit
to associate with the
white race."

Roger B. Taney

Chief Justice Taney ruled
that because of Scott‟s
race, he was not a citizen
of the United States. Scott
had no right to sue his
master.

Roger B. Taney

Justice Taney said
Dred Scott was not free
even if he lived in "free
states."

He also said Congress
had no authority to
prohibit slavery because
he believed it was against
the Fifth Amendment of
the Constitution.

http://shs.umsystem.edu/famousmissourians/leaders/dscott/dscotttaney.html

Fifth Amendment: No person shall be
held to answer for a capital, or otherwise
infamous crime, unless on a presentment
or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in
cases arising in the land or naval forces, or
in the Militia, when in actual service in
time of War or public danger; nor shall any
person be subject for the same offense to
be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb;
nor shall be compelled in any criminal
case to be a witness against himself, nor
be deprived of life, liberty, or property,
without due process of law; nor shall
private property be taken for public use,
without just compensation.

http://shs.umsystem.edu/famousmissourians/leaders/dscott/dscotttaney.html

Fifth Amendment: No person shall
bedeprived of life, liberty, or property,
without due process of law; nor shall
private property be taken for public
use, without just compensation.

The Supreme Court‟s decision: they were not free.

According to the Supreme Court, Dred, Harriet, Eliza
and Lizzie Scott were to remain slaves.

Americans argued with each other about the decision
in Dred Scott‟s case.
“Opposition to southern
“A slaveholder’s instead
opinion upon this subject
of a freemen’s
is now opposition to the
constitution? Never!”
Constitution!” (New York Evening Post)
(Augusta Constitutionalist)

Justice Benjamin Curtis was so angry with Chief Justice Taney‟s opinion about
Dred Scott that he resigned from the Supreme Court.

12 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Many American leaders hoped that the Dred Scott
decision would end the arguments about slavery.

It did not.

The Dred Scott decision was an event that helped start
the four year Civil War between North and South.

Slavery ended in 1865, after Congress ratified the 13th
Amendment to the United States Constitution:

Neither slavery nor involuntary
servitude, except as a punishment for
crime whereof the party shall have
been duly convicted, shall exist
within the United States

The Scott family did become free, but not because
of a decision by the courts.

Mrs. Emerson married again. Her new husband
was an abolitionist.

The Scott family did become free, but not because
of a decision by the courts.

Mrs. Emerson married again. Her new husband,
Dr. Calvin Chafee, was an abolitionist. He was
embarrassed to be involved in the Dred Scott
decision. He convinced his wife that the Scott
family must be freed.

Peter Blow, the son of Dred Scott‟s first owner, was
an abolitionist. Three months after the Supreme
Court decision, Peter Blow paid money to the
Chaffees to free the Dred Scott and his family.

http://shs.umsystem.edu/famousmissourians/leaders/dscott/dscottobituary.html
Obituary for Dred Scott published in the St. Louis Evening News and Intelligencer, September 20, 1858

http://www.common-place.org/vol-08/no-03/arenson/

The genealogist Jesuit, Father Edward Dowling, rediscovered Scott's gravesite at
the 100th anniversary of the Dred Scott case. "We have in mind putting up only a
simple monument," he told the newspapers. "Then if someone some day wants to
put up a better monument it will at least be known where Dred Scott lies." Father
Dowling indicates Dred Scott's grave to John A. Madison, the Scotts' great-
grandson, and his family.
St. Louis Globe-Democrat, February 10, 1957. Courtesy of the St. Louis Globe-Democrat Archives of the St. Louis Mercantile Library at the
University of Missouri-St. Louis.

http://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/8967.aspx

John A. Madison was Dred and Harriet Scott‟s great-grandson.
He was graduated from law school and worked as a teacher.
Lynn Jackson is Dred and Harriet Scott‟s great-great-granddaughter.
She is the leader of the Dred Scott Foundation.

http://www.thedredscottfoundation.org/dshf/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id
=105&Itemid=80

The Dred Scott Foundation is
collecting money so this statue
can be built in the St. Louis
Courthouse, where to remember
where Dred and Harriet Scott
filed their first lawsuit for
freedom.

http://www.thedredscottfoundation.org/dshf/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=58&Itemid=70

http://www.nps.gov/jeff/parknews/images/finallogo.jpg

http://www.common-place.org/vol-08/no-03/arenson/

Young women of keen ability entering their childbearing years, Dred and Harriet Scott's
daughters Eliza and Lizzie would have commanded a high price in the slave market, trading as it
did in sexual violence and calculating reproduction as an investment factor.
They could only return to St. Louis once their freedom was secured.
Eliza and Lizzie Scott, Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, June 27, 1857. Courtesy of the American Antiquarian Society.

http://www.lib.unc.edu/coursepages/hist/F08_hist376_001.html

Dred Scott

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