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Date: Dred and Harriet Scott T H E L I F E O F D R E D S C O T T A N D T H E C O N S E Q U E N C E S O F T H E S C O T T V . S A N D F O R D D E C I S I O N
Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress Grade Levels: 5-12 Estimated Time: 1 Class Period
Show-Me Standards Communication Arts: 3. reading and evaluating nonfiction works and material (such as biographies, newspapers, technical manuals) 4. writing formally (such as reports, narratives, essays) and informally (such as outlines, notes) Social Studies: 2. continuity and change in the history of Missouri, the United States and the world 6. relationships of the individual and groups to institutions and cultural traditions
Lesson Objectives 1. To educate students on an important court case in America’s history, and Dred Scott, an important American figure. 2. To help students understand the struggle of an enslaved person fighting for their freedom and the politics that came with the reading. 3. To improve student’s ability to read and analyze a document as well as being able to infer and answer questions. 4. To give students an idea of how divided the country was over the issue of slavery.
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Directions: Read and take notes over the “Brief History of Dred and Harriet Scott and the Court’s Decision.” Use what you learn to answer the questions below and infer what you believe some of the major consequences of the decision were.
1) Who were Dred and Harriet Scott and why were they historically significant?
2) Dred Scott was moved many times when he was an enslaved person, using the instances discussed in the document below, list where he moved to and whether it was a free or slave state/territory. If the articles do not say whether a state/territory was free or slave feel free to look up the answer online or using another resource. Free:
Slave:
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3) Why did Dred Scott feel that he was justified in suing for his freedom under the law of the time?
4) What were the two main rulings that came out of the Dred Scott v. Sandford case and why are they each significant?
5) How many Supreme Court Justices voted for and against Scott? What do you think the public opinion was on the decision? How do primary sources, such as newspapers, help show us the public opinion of different groups?
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Essay: Describe the impact the Dred Scott v. Sandford case had on different groups of Americans and American history. Remember that the debate on slavery was a heated topic at this time in American history and describe how this case influenced the beginning of the Civil War. Make sure to mention the legal developments and the social factors that changed because of the case.
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email: [email protected] | website: fieldhousemuseum.org Brief History of Dred and Harriet Scott and the Court’s Decision
Dred Scott was born into slavery in Virginia between 1795 and 1809. His first known enslavers were Peter and Elizabeth Taylor Blow. After three of Blow’s sons had died and he concluded that the soil in Virginia was no longer fertile, Blow sold his property moving with his family and enslaved persons to Madison Country in northern Alabama. After a decade of life in Alabama, the Blow family moved for their final time to St. Louis, Missouri. In 1832, the Blow family’s financial misfortunes finally caught up with them, forcing them to sell Dred to U.S. Army surgeon Dr. John Emerson who was stationed at Jefferson Barracks.
Being enslaved by a member of the army meant that Dred often accompanied his enslaver to multiple forts and assignments. Dred first accompanied Emerson to Fort Armstrong at Rock Island, Illinois. This is significant because Illinois was a free state and prohibited slavery. In 1836, Emerson was deployed to Fort Snelling, a fort in the Wisconsin Territory. The Missouri Compromise of 1820 prohibited slavery north of the 36°30′ parallel (Missouri's southern border excluding the bootheel), except within the State of Missouri. Slavery thus was not permitted in the Wisconsin Territory.
During his time in Fort Snelling, Dred met his wife Harriet and a civil marriage was formed between them. Harriet was sold to Emerson shortly before he left Fort Snelling, as he became tired of the fort and wanted a better assignment. In 1837, he was assigned back to Jefferson Barracks, just south of St. Louis City. Upon arrival, however, Emerson was moved to Fort Jessup in Tennessee, where he met his future wife. He did not bring Dred and Harriet to Jefferson Barracks or Fort Jessup, instead he left them in the Wisconsin Territory at Fort Snelling to be hired out to work for the other officers. Eventually, Emerson called for Dred and Harriet to be brought to Fort Jessup after Emerson married Irene Sandford. Emerson eventually grew dissatisfied with Fort Jessup and was redeployed back to Fort Snelling in 1838. Four years later the doctor was honorably discharged from the army and moved to St. Louis to attempt to start a medical practice. His efforts were not successful, so he moved to Davenport, Iowa, but left Dred and Harriet behind once more to be hired out to locals. In 1843, Dr. Emerson died and left his property, including Dred and Harriet, to his wife Irene. She then moved in with her father Alexander Sandford, in north St. Louis County.
On many occasions after Dr. Emerson's death, Dred asked the widowed Irene if he could buy his and his family's freedom, she denied all the requests. With help from supporters and a local preacher, Dred learned that he could sue for his freedom based on the recent decision of the Missouri Supreme Court in the "freedom suit" case of Winny v Phebe Whitesides. In this case, Winny, a formerly enslaved woman, won her freedom
email: [email protected] | website: fieldhousemuseum.org because she was able to prove her residence within Illinois, a free state, before her enslaver moved her to Missouri. Because of Illinois law and the principle of "once free, always free," Winny was granted freedom. Dred hearing of the ruling and having lived both in Illinois and the free Wisconsin territory felt his family had a good case upon which to seek freedom.
Scott’s freedom suit case, based upon the family's residency in free territory, went up through the courts; first the circuit, followed by the Missouri Supreme Court, and finally the United States Supreme Court. The Scott's lost the first case in 1846, but in 1850 the Missouri Supreme Court ruled that the family was free. Two years later, the Missouri Supreme Court reversed their previous decision. Dred, with the help of Roswell Field, then appealed to the federal court, changing the premise from a case of residency to one of citizenship. It would not be until March of 1857 that Scott would have his trial in the U.S. Supreme Court. Chief Justice Roger B. Taney announced the Court’s decision. The Court had voted 7-2 against Dred Scott. This however was not the only consequence of this trial.
Taney stated that neither Dred Scott, nor any other African American could sue for their freedom because he believed that, enslaved or free, they could not be a citizen of the United States. Thus, African Americans could not legally sue in the Supreme Court, as this was a privilege granted only to citizens. He believed African American people could not be a part of the community that the Constitution created, and had no rights or privileges, besides the ones the government decided to specifically give them. He could have stopped there, but with the rising tensions over slavery, he wanted to put the issue to rest and show the nation where the Supreme Court stood on the matter.
Taney had already taken a pro-slavery stance with the first ruling, but he went even further into this mindset with the second ruling. Dealing with the facts that Scott had been to both a free state and a free territory, of which Congress decided no enslaved persons were allowed, the Court dealt with the state/territory separately. First, they decided that Missouri was not forced to follow any law that another state has put in place; therefore, they did not have to follow the laws Illinois had put in place dealing with an enslaved person's freedom. On the issue of the free Wisconsin Territory, the Court cited the Fifth Amendment, which states that no one had the right to seize another man’s property without due process of law, prevented an enslaved person from being forcibly freed. The Supreme Court, by doing this, ruled the Missouri Compromise, passed by Congress in 1820, was unconstitutional. This was only the second time that the Supreme Court decided that something passed by Congress was unconstitutional. The Court believed that legislature had no right to decide which territories would allow enslaved persons, and which could not. The ruling concluded that even if an enslaved person established residence in a free state or territory, the government nor the individual could break the legal hold of an enslaver upon their human property.
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The reaction of this case was highly polarized within newspapers. Many people in the north believed it was the result of a conspiracy of corrupt enslavers within the government. Some newspaper articles told northerners not to listen to the ruling because the votes of the seven enslavers sitting on the Supreme Court did not count. While the north was filled with anger, the citizens of the south were filled with excitement and more than satisfied with the result. The Richmond Enquirer asserted, “prize, for which the athletes of the nation have often wrestled in the halls of Congress, has been awarded at last, by the proper umpire, to those who have justly won it. The nation has achieved a triumph, sectionalism has been rebuked, and abolitionism has been staggered and stunned.”
The Scott Decision was a detrimental blow to both Dred and Harriet, but also to the abolitionist movement. The decision, however, did not put the debate to rest. Instead, it made the issue an even hotter topic. The Court’s decision had lasting and wide-sweeping effects for the future of America and became one of the major factors in the rising tension between the North and South, eventually escalating to the Civil War.
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Date: Writing Prompt L E T T E R T O T H E S U P R E M E C O U R T
Although the 13th and 14th amendments nullified the Dred v. Sandford decision, the ruling has never been formally overturned. Use the space below to write a rough draft letter to the Supreme Court Justice of your choice explaining why you think they should overturn the ruling. Do not use implementation of the 13th and 14th amendment in your argument.
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Date: Critical Thinking C O M P A R I S O N O F T W O R U L I N G S
Compare and contrast the court cases of Marie Louise v Marot (1836) and Scott v Emerson (1852). What arguements were used for each case? Were the arguments similar or different? How did the verdicts vary from each other?
Resources: Marie Louise v Marot: https://cite.case.law/la/13/441/ Scott v Emerson: https://cite.case.law/mo/15/576/
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email: [email protected] | website: fieldhousemuseum.org National Park Service Resource Guide:
NPS Dred Scott Trial Script https://www.nps.gov/teachers/classrooms/dred-scott-trial-script.htm
NPS Plan Your Visit https://www.nps.gov/jeff/planyourvisit/dredscott.htm
NPS Gateway Arch National Park Educational Resources Page https://www.nps.gov/jeff/learn/education/index.htm
NPS Gateway Arch National Park Virtual Visitshttps://www.nps.gov/jeff/learn/education/gateway-arch-national-park-presents- virtual-visits.htm
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