Dred Scott Case

The commonly known Dred Scott case is a case that involved Scott vs. Sanford. The decision made by the United States Court was very important that is considered to have a lot of effect in modern America.  The ruling denied congress the powers to make slavery illegal in the territory of the United States. Moreover, the opinion had a lot of social and political implications. Dred Scott was an uneducated slave who was born in 1799 as the Peter Blow's property.  Dred's suit was founded on the reason that he was formerly staying in Illinois which was a free state (Vishneski, 373-390). This considered him a free man. Therefore, a state circuit court favored Scott in the case. However, this decision was reverted by the Supreme Court.  Scott became lawfully considered as Sanford's property from New York in the interim. Sanford did not reside in Missouri and thus lawyers affiliated to Scott transferred the case to some other location where it turned out against him.

Blacks were not considered citizens of the United States of America. Thus, the suit could not be presented due to this reason. The declaration in the ruling was that no black whether a slave or free could claim a citizenship of the United States of America. Thus, slaves did not have personal rights (Vishneski, 373-390). They were simply regarded as property. This was one of the controversial rulings of the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court just like the nation itself was divided alongside sectional lines. One form of justice held the opinion that the issue was for the state courts. However, liberal justices asserted that Scott should have been given freedom under the compromise of Missouri. Conventional justices were ready to deny Scott any freedom and state the compromise unconstitutional.  Thus, the ruling was characterized with hate and inhumanity. This was one of the many factors that led to the fighting for the freedom of Africans in the United States of America.

The Southerners and the Northerners

Scott was sold immediately after the case and in a period of two months after the Supreme Court had made the decision, the new owners freed him. The decision on Dred Scott was welcome by the southerners. The southerners believed that they had the go ahead to extend slavery to many other territories. Ideally, the decision supported the perception of slaves by the southerners. The southerners considered slaves to be property. This was a major boost to the southerners for the position they held concerning the blacks that they did not have individual rights. The idea held by the southerners is that the blacks could be sold and bought just like property. The blacks were did not have any protection from the constitutional provision on freedom (Vishneski, 373-390).

The reaction in the north was actually different. The ruling provoked anger and animosity especially in the North. The United States of America on this occasion was pushed nearer to a civil war. Generally, the north was unhappy and made a commitment to stop any form of slavery which was a common occurrence in the south. As a result, the verdict on the case made the north pull away from the south politically. The northerners had the belief that a strong country must have laws that manage particular rights which are decided through the states. This ruling interfered with the sense of wrong and right in the north. The northerners protested against the ruling and were ready to part ways with the south based on this issue. According to the Northerners, this signified great injustice done to the blacks. The case created a lot of instability between the north and the south (Vishneski, 373-390). They soon became incompatible on matters of politics. Such were the divisions that led to very significant effects in the fight for the freedom of all which emanated from the North. In 1868, former slaves attained protection in the constitution through the 14th amendment that gave them rights.