Did You Know: The Dred Scott Decision | Encyclopaedia Britannica

Dred Scott decision, formally Dred Scott v. John F.A. Sandford, legal case in which the U.S. Supreme Court on March 6, 1857, ruled (7–2) that a slave (Dred Scott) who had resided in a free state and territory (where slavery was prohibited) was not thereby entitled to his freedom; that African Americans were not and could never be citizens of the United States; and that the Missouri Compromise (1820), which had declared free all territories west of Missouri and north of latitude 36°30′, was unconstitutional. The decision added fuel to the sectional controversy and pushed the country closer to civil war.

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[JohnDavis_]

Have they overturned the decision yet?

[jessetorres]

The trial of Derek Chauvin has some parallels with the Dred Scott Case back from the 1850s. Basically, a slave originally from the South named Dred Scott moved North and went to court to demand his freedom despite the fact he was still seen as property and not a free person. His case went all the way to the Supreme Court which ruled that Scott was deemed property and couldn't earn his freedom/equality, which set a precedent that no former slave in the U.S. could go through the justice system for their freedom either. Well, should Derek Chauvin be found not guilty for George Floyd's death, it basically sets a precedent that no matter the amount of evidence presented, no police officer in the U.S. can be held accountable through the courts for excessive force or even the death of an unarmed person.

[YoungBillyKatastrophe]

The image commonly associated with Dred Scott is actually not of him but rather of his brother, Peter Blow. Peter Blow was the brother of Dred Scott's original owner, and the image is often used as a representation of the historical context surrounding the Dred Scott case.

His skin color likely played a significant role in the selection as the plaintiff. He had mixed-race background (his father was the slave Master and his mother was the slave, that dynamic).. Scott was so light skinned he could pass for "white, " coupled with his status as an enslaved individual who had lived in both free and slave states, made his case particularly compelling for challenging the legality of slavery in various jurisdictions.

The image commonly associated with Dred Scott's wife, Harriet Scott, is not actually her but rather an unidentified woman.