Dred.7z Apr 2026

: In 1846, Dred Scott and his wife, Harriet, filed a lawsuit in the St. Louis Circuit Court for their freedom. Their claim was based on the fact that their enslaver, a U.S. Army surgeon named Dr. John Emerson, had taken them to live in the free state of Illinois and the Wisconsin Territory (where slavery was illegal) before returning to the slave state of Missouri.

: Under the legal principle of "once free, always free," the Scotts argued that their residence in free territory made them legally free. While they won an initial trial in 1850, the decision was overturned by the Missouri Supreme Court. Dred.7z

: The court ruled that African Americans, whether free or enslaved, were not and could never be citizens of the United States and therefore had no right to sue in federal court. : In 1846, Dred Scott and his wife,

: The decision outraged abolitionists and deepened the divide between the North and South, serving as a primary catalyst for the Civil War. Army surgeon named Dr

: It declared that the federal government could not prohibit slavery in any U.S. territory, effectively making the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional.