ownership of his wife Irene. For their entire lives, the Scotts lived
under the control of John and Irene Emerson, traveling with them from state
to state. Nine of those years were
spent living in “free states” (states that had banned
slavery).
In 1846, Dred Scott and his wife
Harriet filed a suit against Irene Emerson to obtain their freedom. During the court cases, the Scotts were
treated as property because of the state laws in Missouri. The trial process dragged on for years. Given the information you know about the
time period, predict what happened to Dred Scott and his wife when their
trial went to the Supreme Court and the court ruled in 1857. Choose from the options below:
[
] On March 6th, 1857, Chief Justice Roger B.
Taney delivered the majority opinion of the Supreme Court. The court ruled that Dred Scott was a
slave, and therefore had no right to bring the case to the federal
courts. In addition the court ruled
that Scott had never been free since he was personal property. This meant that the federal government
had no right to prohibit slavery in the new territories.
[
] On March 6th, 1857, Chief Justice Roger B.
Taney delivered the majority opinion of the Supreme Court. The court ruled that Dred Scott should be
acknowledged as a “free man” and had all rights accorded to any man by the
laws of the United States. This meant that the federal government
had every right to prohibit slavery in the new territories and upheld the
arguments of the Missouri Compromise.
Please explain the
rationale for your choice:
