Dred Scott by Nicole O'Dell period 5

    Dred Scott who lived from 1795 to1858, was born a slave in Virginia.  He was employed as a general handyman, farmhand, and craftsman. Unfortunately, his original owner died in 1832, so Scott was sold for $500 to a surgeon in the US army. Scott traveled with the surgeon, spending time in Illinois and then the Wisconsin Territory which were both free states.  Here Scott married and had two daughters. However, Scott was still a slave.  After the death of the surgeon, Scott’s first attempt towards freedom was made.  He offered the surgeon’s wife, now a widow, $300 for his freedom.  The offer was refused, and Scott became a slave to John Sanford.  Scott then unsuccessfully tried to escape from slavery and later attempted to buy not only his freedom, but his family’s freedom as well.
    In 1846 Scott filed suit to gain his freedom in the Missouri state courts, gaining help from two St. Louis attorneys.  The reason Scott was asking for his freedom was because he had been taken from the slave state of Missouri, to the free state of Illinois, and then also to the Wisconsin Territory.  Numerous appeals and court reversals were made over the following ten years, and eventually Scott’s case was brought before the United States Supreme Court in 1857. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court did not act in Scott’s favor. The court decided that all people of African ancestry would and never could become citizens of the United States. This included not only slaves, but as well those who were free. Therefore, since the court decided that Africans were not citizens, they agreed that they could not sue in federal court because they do not have the same rights or freedoms as those stated in the Constitution.  Furthermore, the court stated that blacks could be returned to slavery no matter how long they had lived free.  Consequently, Scott remained a slave.
    Scott’s court case, otherwise known as the Dred Scott Decision, gained attention all across the United States, where many people considered the event, “one of history’s most prominent legal battles.”  Consequently, there were numerous reactions to the court case, both good and bad, which sparked tensions and led to even more significant events.  For example,  the case  increased the anti-slavery feelings in the North, and some people even claim that the case contributed to the start of the civil war between the northern and southern states.
    Therefore, Dred Scott was a very important man whose actions brought awareness to the people of the United States. His actions made a significant difference, causing people to think about slavery and whether or not it was morally right. He spent his life fighting for his freedom, and eventually  he was formally emancipated on May 26, 1857 by his original owners.  As a free man, Scott decided to stay in St. Louis, Missouri and work as a porter in a hotel.  However, after only nine months of freedom, Dred Scott died of tuberculosis on September 17, 1858
   
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    "Dred Scott." Africa Within. 2001. Web. 11 Nov. 2011. <http://www.africawithin.com/bios/dred _scott.htm>.

     "Dred Scott Case: The Supreme Court Decision." Dred Scott Case. PBS Online. Web. 11 Nov. 2011. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h2933.html>.