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Dred Scott V. Sandford a Brief History with Documents Paul THE BEDFORD SERIES IN HISTORY AND CULTURE Dred Scott v. Sandford A Brief History with Documents Paul Finkelman Hatnline University School ofLaw BEDFORD BOOKS Boston ÄS New York Contents Foreword iii Preface v PART ONE Introduction: The Dred Scott Case, Slavery, and the Politics of Law 1 An Overview of the Dred Scott Case 2 A Bad Decision 4 A Complex and Confused Case 6 Slavery in the Territories 8 Who Was Dred Scott? 10 Dred Scott Sues for Freedom 20 In the Federal Court 23 The Jurisdictional Issue and the Plea in Abatement 24 The Case in the Federal District Court 25 Before the Supreme Court 26 The Judges 29 The Compromise Not Taken 31 The Jurisdictional Question 33 Free Blacks under Taney*s Constitution: "They Had No Rights" 34 The Status of Slavery in the Territories under Dred Scott 36 The Territories Clause 38 The Fifth Amendment 39 ix CONTENTS Law as Politics 43 The Politics of Law 45 The Republican Fear of a Conspiracy 46 The Nationalization of Slavery 47 The Democratic Response 49 Epilogue 50 PARTTWO The Documents 53 1. Opinions of the Justices 55 Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney, Opinion ofthe Court in Dred Scott, Plaintiffin Error v. John F. A. Sandford 55 Justice James M. Wayne, Concurring Opinion 77 Justice Samuel Nelson, Concurring Opinion 79 Justice Robert Cooper Grier, Concurring Opinion 85 Justice Peter V. Daniel, Concurring Opinion 86 Justice John Archibald Campbell, Concurring Opinion 91 Justice John Catron, Concurring Opinion 96 Justice John McLean, Dissenting Opinion 100 Justice Benjamin Robbins Curtis, Dissenting Opinion 108 2. Newspaper Responses to the Dred Scott Decision 127 Varieties of Southern ProSlavery Opinion 127 Enquirer (Richmond), The Dred Scott Case, March 10,1857 129 Mercury (Charleston), The Dred Scott Case— Supreme Court on the Rights ofthe South, April 2, 1857 130 Daily Picayune (New Orleans), Citizenship, March 21, 1857 132 The Buchanan Administration's Paper Endorses the Decision 133 Union (Washington, D.C.), The Dred Scott Case, March 12,1857 134 CONTENTS Northern Support for the Dred Scott Decision 136 Journal ofCommerce (New York), The Decision of the Supreme Court, March 11,1857 137 Journal ofCommerce (New York), The Dred Scott Case, March 12,1857 139 Post (Pittsburgh), The Dred Scott Case, March 14,1857 142 Post (Pittsburgh), Seeking an Issue, March 17,1857 143 Opposition to the Dred Scott Decision: A Spectrum of Northern Opinion 143 Tribüne (New York), March 7, 1857 144 Daily Times (New York), The Slavery Question— The Decision ofthe Supreme Court, March 9,1857 145 Evening Post (New York), The Supreme Court ofthe United States, March 7,1857 147 Independent (New York), Wickedness ofthe Decision in the Supreme Court against the African Race, March 19,1857 149 Register (Salem), The U.S. Supreme Court, March 12,1857 152 Zion's Herald and Wesleyan Journal (Boston), The Laie Decision ofthe Supreme Court ofthe United States, March 18,1857 153 Iincoln's Paper Responds 154 Tribüne (Chicago), Who Are Negroes? March 12, 1857 155 Tribüne (Chicago), The Dred Scott Case, March 17,1857 155 Tribüne (Chicago), Judge Curtis's Opinion, March 19, 1857 156 A War for Public Opinion: The Washington Union and The New York Tribüne 157 Union (Washington, D.C.), Unreasonable Complaints, March 21,1857 157 Tribüne (New York), Judge Taney's Opinion, March 21,1857 161 Tribüne (New York), Editorial, March 21, 1857 162 XU CONTENTS Tribüne (New York), Editorial, March 25, 1857 164 Union (Washington, D.C.), The Supreme Court and the New York Tribüne, March 28,1857 165 3. PoHtical Debate in the North 168 Frederick Douglass, The Dred Scott Decision: Speech at New York, on the Occasion ofthe Anniversary ofthe American Abolition Society, May 11, 1857 169 Lincoln-Douglas Debates and the Dred Scott Decision 182 Abraham Lincoln, The "House Divided" Speech at Springfield, Illinois, June 16,1858 185 Stephen A Douglas, Speech at Chicago, Illinois, July 9, 1858 195 Abraham Lincoln, Speech at Chicago, Illinois, July 10,1858 201 Stephen A Douglas, Speech at Springfield, Illinois, July 17,1858 205 The Debate at Freeport: Lincoln's Questions and Douglas's Answers, August 27, 1858 213 The Debate atjonesboro, September 15,1858 216 Congressional Debate 220 "Bust of Chief Justice Taney," Congressional Globe, February 23,1865 221 APPENDICES Chronology of Events Related to Dred Scott (1787-1870) 227 Questions for Consideration 231 Selected Bibliography 233 Index 235.
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