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Essay on Dred Scott

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In this position paper I will explain the trials that Dred Scott

had to go through in his life in his attempts for justice to be served.

Dred Scott was born in 1799, and was an illiterate slave. His parents

were slaves and so he was born the property of the Peter Blow

family. In 1804 The United States took possesion of Missouri and

after many debates on whether or not it would be a slavery state, a

resolution known as the Missouri Compromise came along. This

made a balance in the number of free and slave states, the problem

was that Missouri was located right in the middle of what was the

freedom and slavery.


In 1830, the Blow family moved to St. Louis and …show more content…

In these nine years

he never made an attempt to get his freedom and it is not known

why he waited until this specific time, there are only three

possibilities that are considered though. One possibility is that he

was tired of being hired out. Another possibility is that he was

possibly on the verge of getting sold to another owner. The last

possible reason was that Scott may have tried to pay for his

freedom, but was refused of it. It is known that the suit was not

filed for political reasons.

The Scotts' case took place in the St. Louis Circuit Court and in

1847 the jury ruled in Mrs. Emerson favor and dismissed the case.

The Scotts' were allowed to refile their suit. In 1850, the Scotts' got

the outcome they deserved, as the jury believed that it was right for

them to be free. Irene Emerson appealed the decision in 1852 and

the State Supreme Court overruled the Circuit Court decision. Scott

then filed a suit in the U.S. Federal Court in St. Louis against John

Sanford who had taken responsibility for John Emerson's estate and

was also Irene Emerson's brother. The decision in this case again

went against Scott and he then tried one more appeal in 1856. In

the case of Scott v. Sanford the court stated that he should remain a

slave being that he was nothing but property. The Supreme Court

stated that “A black man had no rights which a white man had to

respect.” The

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