...Brief description During the 1800’s slavery was a major issue in the U.S. One of the most controversial case was Dred Scott v. Stanford (1857). Scott was a born a slave and was owned to his master Peter. When Scott’s owner died, Peter appointed Dr. John Emerson as Scott’s new slave owner. Emerson was the new slave owner of Scott and traveled to Illinois and Missouri where slavery was outlawed by the Missouri Compromise. Scott wanted his freedom, but his slave owner did not agree with him so the debate ended up in the Supreme Court. Jurisdiction In the beginning, the Supreme Court Justices held that the case had no jurisdiction because Scott was not a considered a citizen. The court was limited to cases between citizens of the states therefore...
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...civil war took place. The U.S Supreme Court issued what became as their decision on the case of Dred Scott v. Sanford. Why was was this case brought upon in the first place? Dred Scott brought the case before the court himself. Scott was looking for freedom from slavery. Before getting into the case, some information about Scott is mandatory. Scott, born sometime during the year of 1795, in Southampton County, Virginia. Where he was born into slavery. After several years, Scott’s first owner died, where then he was sold to a U.S. army doctor, Dr. Emerson. In 1836 Scott would go on to marry Harriett Robinson where her ownership was transferred over to...
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...SIGNIFICANCE OF THE DRED SCOTT V. STANDFORD CASE “Could a black person be a citizen and therefore sue in federal court? Did the residence in a free state make Scott free? Did Congress possess the power to prohibit slavery in a territory?” (488, Foner) Where the three questions that the Justices addressed when looking at the Dred Scott v. Sandford case of 1857. The Dred Scott v Sanford was the case in which African- American slave, Dred Scott, fought to buy his freedom from Sandford, the wife of his former owner who had passed away. The arguments that led to the decision of the case that would soon make history were both very complex. Dred Scott felt as though he was a free slave due to the fact that before the death of his master Scott accompanied him from the slave state of Missouri, to the free state of Illinois, as well as the free territory of Wisconsin before returning back to Missouri. Therefore making his argument that once an individual enters...
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...Dred Scott vs. Sanford: The Dred Scott vs. Sanford case is one of the most important cases that have ever been tried in the United States of America and was heard in the Old Courthouse of St. Louis. This case that is usually known as the Dred Scott Decision was a ruling by the Supreme Court of America that African people imported into the country and detained as slaves were not protected by the U.S Constitution and could never be American citizens. Dred Scott was a slave who sued for his freedom from his master in a Missouri court in the year 1846. As part of his arguments, Dred Scott claimed that he resided in Illinois which was a free state and part of the Louisiana Territory. Therefore, he claimed that he was a free man because of his residence in a free territory in which slavery was prohibited by the 1820 Missouri Compromise (“Dred Scott v. Sanford” par, 1). However, Dred Scott’s suit for freedom in the local federal court in Missouri was unsuccessful. Eleven years later after his initial suit in the Missouri court, Scott brought a new suit in the United States’ Supreme Court. This was after the federal court ordered the jury to depend on Missouri law for the conclusion of the case regarding Scott’s freedom. Additionally, Scott decided to appeal to the United States’ Supreme Court following the decision of the Missouri Supreme Court to consider him as a slave. In his defense, Scott’s master maintained that the American Constitution did not allow people of African...
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...The Dred Scott Case Throughout American history, there have been numerous blunders within our legal system. Perhaps the most intriguing failure within our American legal system was the Dred Scott Case. The Dred Scott Case is perhaps the most infamous case in American history as Dred Scott, a slave who had been free for a rather long period of time, sued the Missouri court system and eventually the U.S. Supreme Court for his freedom and was denied. Numerous excellent arguments were made by the legal team of Dred Scott, however, perhaps the most intriguing that Americans truly take for granted was the debate as to whether being free for an extended period of time entitles someone to freedom for the rest of their life. This case became so intense that...
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...The Dred Scott Decision History Paper “Dred Scott decision, formally Dred Scott v. John F.A. Sandford, legal case in which the U.S. Supreme Court on March 6, 1857, ruled (7–2) that a slave (Dred Scott) who had resided in a free state and territory (where slavery was prohibited) was not thereby entitled to his freedom; that African Americans were not and could never be citizens of the United States; and that the Missouri Compromise (1820), which had declared free all territories west of Missouri and north of latitude 36°30′, was unconstitutional. The decision added fuel to the sectional controversy and pushed the country closer to civil war.” Dred Scott was a Missouri slave who had a supreme court case which became one of the big pushes towards...
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...Date Dred Scott v. Sandford The United States Supreme Court in March 1857 ruled that free blacks and black slaves were never citizens and would never gain citizenship in the United States. Additionally, the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney made a declaration that 1820 Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional thereby legalizing slavery countrywide. The Plaintiff Dred Scott had appealed to the Supreme Court to gain his freedom after living in the Free States of Illinois and Wisconsin before moving to the slave state of Missouri (Van and Maltz, p.144). The Judge Taney, who staunchly supported slavery, wrote that because Scott was black which nullified his citizenship had no right to sue in the federal courts. This ruling was in agreement with the Court's majority opinion. In his writing, he emphasized how the Negro belonged to the white man as of property, and the white man could reduce him to slavery as he wished (O'Connor, and Yanus, p.120). He further wrote that the black man had no protection from the Declaration of Independence that justifies all men to be equal because the intent of the Declaration of Independence was not to include the enslaved African race. Scott had sued in a state court in 1846 for his freedom because he had sojourned in a free state for a surmountable amount of time. In 1840, the state court made a declaration that Scott was free. Mr. Sanford appealed this decision to the Missouri Supreme Court (Cromwell, p.165). The case reached...
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...The Dred Scott Case Scott v. Sandford was Dred Scott’s second attempt at suing for his freedom. Not only did this case spark conflicts between the North and South, but it also was a cause for the Civil War. Even today, a court case has not received as much controversy as Scott v. Sandford (Dred Scott…Case). The controversial case of Dred Scott can be examined through Scott’s motive for suing, the harsh opinion of the Chief Justice, and the outcome and influence of the case. Scott was traveling with his master, John Emmerson, to Illinois and the Wisconsin territory as part of Emmerson’s job and after the death of Emmerson in 1843, Scott decided to sue Emmerson’s wife for his freedom in the state court. He stated that living in free soil made him a free man, but this court case did not go in his favor (Dred Scott v. Sandford). After this court case, Emmerson’s wife sold him to her brother-in-law, John...
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...I. Scott v. Sandford (1857), 7-2, Taney II. Circumstances of the Case a. Dred Scott (Plaintiff) was a slave in the state of Missouri. In 1833, Dred Scott was taken to the free states of Illinois and Wisconsin territory before returning to Missouri with his then owner, John Emerson. Upon Emerson’s death in 1843, Scott litigated Emerson's widow for his sovereignty in the Missouri Supreme Court, citing that his habitation in the “free soil” of Illinois dictated him being a free man. Scott was defeated in State courts, however, some eleven years later the case was heard by the U.S Supreme Court. By this time Scott was sold and became the slave of Sanford who became the defendant in this case. III. The Issues of the Case and the Courts Decision a. Issues associated with the case included the following rationale i. Did a slave become free upon entering a “free” State? No. ii. Could a slave, specifically a Black person, be eligible to litigate in federal courts? No. iii. Could a slave, or “property”, be taken from the owner without fair reparation? No. iv. Was the Missouri Compromise a binding and legitimate action of the Federal Government; could Congress forbid slavery in a territory or grant that power to a territory's legislature? No. IV....
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...Japanese-American Cases (pp. 231-270) Complete ONE of these tasks: (1a; 1b; 1c) 1a) After the attack on Pearl Harbor more than 120,000 Japanese Americans were forced to live in detention camps and leave the west coast.There are four constitutional cases that connect: Yasui B U.S, Hirabayashi V. United States, Korematsu V United States and Ex parte Endo. When examining these cases the judges did not examine separation but rather examined: curfew, exclusion, detention and indefinite incarceration. In Hirabayashi V. United States Hirabayashi was convicted of violating curfew and not reporting to an...
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...His case was called ‘’Dred Scott v. Sanford’’. He actually made it to court. Dred Scott made history happen by going to court for his freedom. His statement or what his whole is built upon was the statement that he had lived with Dr. Emerson in free territories like Illinois, that when Dr. Emerson died he Dred Scott thought he was free. The process began in 1846. Dred Scott had lost his first trial in a local St. Louis district court but, he then won his second trial, only to find out that the decision overturned by the Missouri State Supreme Court. Although he was rejected he would not give up for his and his wife’s freedom. Nothing was going to get in his way. He wasn’t alone. He had a team of people who hated slavery. Dred Scott then filed his suit in St....
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...Hollingsworth V. Perry The Supreme Court dismissed the case about California's proposition 8. On jurisdictional grounds it was not up to the state because same sex marriage was not defended by states and was more private party thing. This case opened the way for same sex-marriage being legal in more states. It also allowed California to continue allowing same-sex marriage. Marbury V. Madison This case was about checks and balances between the Supreme court and the federal government. William Marbury was one of the many that got appointed before John Adams was out of office. Some of the appointments were not finalized before Madison came into office and he decided not to send them in. So Marbury invoked an act of congress and sued to get...
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...Dred Scott was a slave in Missouri who then resided in Illinois, a free state, for ten years. Scott soon returned to Missouri in hopes of suing for his freedom, claiming that residing in Louisiana made him a free man. Dred Scott’s owner claimed that no African American of African descent and slave descendant should be honored a free man in the sense of Article III in the Constitution. The Dred Scott v. Sandford case of 1856 had a majority ruling of 7-2, which held portions of the Missouri Compromise of 1820 unconstitutional in violation of the Fifth Amendment. This treated Scott as property rather than a human being. The opposing side stated that before the Constitution was written native-born citizens of African descent were citizens and some were even able to vote;...
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...United States, the Supreme Court has made major decisions relating to the civil liberties and rights of African Americans and each major decision has had a major impact on the American Society. Three Supreme Court decisions in response to cases filed by African Americans have impacted America more than any other decisions and also highlight the gradual development of equal rights in the United States. In 1857 when tensions over slavery ran high, the Dred Scott v. Sanford decision divided the nation into two camps – slavery and antislavery and this ultimately contributed to the Civil War in 1861. Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896 was a major setback in race decisions allowing African Americans to be discriminated...
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...Dr. John Emerson took his slave, Dred Scott, from Missouri to Illinois and Minnesota where they resided from 1834 to 1838. Illinois and Minnesota are located in the territory north of 36° 30' and identified as free states under the Missouri Compromise. Scott returned to Missouri in 1838 and years later, Dr. Emerson died. Scott brought suit against Emerson’s widow in the Missouri courts, claiming his residency in free territory changed his status to free. The lower court decided in favor of Scott, but in 1852, the Missouri Supreme Court reversed the decision. Scott’s ownership was transferred to John Sanford, the brother of Mrs. Emerson’s new husband. The family filed a suit on Scott’s behalf against Sanford in the U.S. Circuit Court in Missouri, where Scott appealed to the Supreme Court on a writ of error. The ruling in the U.S. Circuit Court in Missouri was in favor of Sanford. Scott brought suit to the Supreme Court to decide on his status of citizenship and the rights he could receive from the Constitution. Issue Is a slave who was taken into free territory able to become a United States citizen and receive rights from the Constitution? Rule...
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