Who was the plaintiff in the case of Dred Scott?

Facts of the Case Dred Scott, the plaintiff in the case, was an enslaved man and his enslaver was John Emerson of Missouri. In 1843, Emerson took Scott from Missouri, a pro-slavery state, to the Louisiana Territory, where enslavement had been banned by the Missouri Compromise of 1820.

What happened to Dred Scott in 1834?

In 1834, Dred Scott, a slave, had been taken to Illinois, a free state, and then Wisconsin territory, where the Missouri Compromise of 1820 prohibited slavery. Scott lived in Wisconsin with his master, Dr. John Emerson, for several years before returning to Missouri, a slave state.

Why did Dred Scott sign his petition with an X?

All of this was the result of an April 1846 action when Dred Scott innocently made his mark with an “X,” signing his petition in a pro forma freedom suit, initiated under Missouri law, to sue for freedom in the St. Louis Circuit Court.

What was Dred Scott’s journey to Fort Snelling like?

The journey and residence at Fort Snelling was Dred Scott’s second chance to sue for freedom. Now he was resident in a territory that was governed by the 1820 Missouri Compromise, which prohibited slavery north of 36° 30′ except within the boundaries of the state of Missouri.

Why did Harriet and Dred Scott sue for their freedom?

In 1846, with the help of antislavery lawyers, Harriet and Dred Scott filed individual lawsuits for their freedom in Missouri state court in St. Louis on the grounds that their residence in a free state and a free territory had freed them from the bonds of slavery.

How did the Dred Scott decision affect the Missouri Compromise?

The Court ruled in the Dred Scott decision that Congress had exceeded its authority in the Missouri Compromise because it had no power to forbid or abolish slavery in the territories west of Missouri and north of latitude 36°30′.

When was Dred Scott v Sandford overturned?

The Dred Scott decision was eventually overturned by the 13th Amendment in 1865 and the 14th Amendment in 1868. Fast Facts: Dred Scott v. Sandford