mar 6, 1857 - Dred Scott v. Sandford

Description:

Dred Scott was a slave in Missouri. For 10 years he resided in Illinois, which was a free state. After returning to Missouri, Scott sued Missouri for his freedom because of his residence in a free state. He believed that that made him free, but his master maintained the argument that no African American could be a citizen under the Constitution. The ruling was that Dred Scott was a slave and that no one but a citizen of the United States could be a citizen of a state, and that only Congress could confer national citizenship. The conclusion was made that no person descended from an American slave had ever been a citizen for Article III purposes. This case was an increase in federal power because the even though some of the states were "free" he was still a slave and that under the Constitution, he had no rights to grant citizenship among other things. Therefore, he was not free and remained a slave.