Dred Scott Vs. Sanford Case Research Paper

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Sanford case was taken to the Federal courts and ruled in favor of Sanford. Following this decision to decide in favor of Sanford in the case, Dred Scott appealed the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 1857, the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, Roger B. Taney delivered the majority opinion in the Dred Scott vs. Sanford case. In his ruling, Taney revealed that seven of the nine judges who heard the case had agreed that Scott should continue to be a slave. Furthermore, Taney stated that Scott was not an American citizen and had no right to bring any lawsuit in the Federal courts. Taney also declared that Scott and his family had never been free since slaves were personal property. While he declared that the 1820 Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional, he also stated that the Federal Government had no right to forbid slavery in new territories.

Emancipation Proclamation:

The ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in the Dred Scott vs. Sanford case prompted the American public to react strongly with a number of antislavery groups expressing their concerns of the ability of slavery to spread unchecked. This led to the formation of the new Republican Party with the purpose of forbidding the spread of slavery and renewing the fight to be in charge of the Congress and the courts. The well-planned political campaign of the Republican Party in 1860 resulted in the election of Abraham Lincoln as America's President and the secession of South Carolina from the Union.

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While Scott and his family eventually regained their freedom in 1857, the decision in Scott's case moved America to the brink of Civil War which led to the end of slavery throughout America.

The Dred Scott vs. Sanford was a contributing factor to the emancipation proclamation by the Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. Given that this case moved the country to the edge of Civil War, President Lincoln was forced to issue two orders during the Civil War. The first order guaranteed the freedom of all slaves in the Confederacy if these rebels didn't end civil war and rejoin the Union by 1863. The second order was issued in the beginning in the year 1863 at a time when America came close to its third year of Civil War. While it didn't free even a single slave immediately, it changed the nature of the Civil War from preserving the Union to a war for freedom (Gill par, 6).

Conclusion:

According to the ruling of the Supreme Court in the Dred Scott vs. Sanford case, it's true that the court adopted the long standing ideal that slaves were not equal to American citizens. The Supreme Court emerged to be authorizing slavery under the terms of the Constitution itself in addition to stating that slavery couldn't be forbidden or restricted within America.

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