Dred Scott v. Sandford

Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. (19 How.) 393 (1857), is a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court.

Dred Scott was an enslaved man who had lived with his owner in the free state of Illinois and the free territory of Wisconsin. After being returned to Missouri, Scott sued for his freedom, arguing that his residence in free territory made him free. The case reached the Supreme Court after years of litigation.

Significance

Chief Justice Taney’s opinion delivered a devastating three-part ruling: (1) Black people, whether free or enslaved, could not be U.S. citizens and thus had no standing to sue in federal court; (2) the Missouri Compromise’s prohibition of slavery in northern territories was unconstitutional because it deprived slaveholders of property without due process; (3) Congress had no power to prohibit slavery in the territories. The decision inflamed sectional tensions, pushed the nation closer to civil war, and was effectively nullified by the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments. It remains the most infamous decision in Supreme Court history, representing the Court’s lowest moment.

Category

US Federal Case Law