mar 6, 1857 - Dred Scott v. Sandford
Description:
In 1857 Scott sued his late masters' widow for his freedom, claiming he was held illegally in Illinois and Wisconsin, both free states.
The court decision asserted that,
1. Persons of African descent cannot be, nor were ever intended to be, citizens under the U.S. Constitution; Plaintiff is without standing to file a suit, as a noncitizen.
2. The Property Clause is only applicable to lands possessed at the time of ratification (1787). As such, Congress cannot ban slavery in the territories; Missouri Compromise (which was effectively repealed by the Kansas Nebraska Act anyway) is unconstitutional.
3. Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment [No person shall ... be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.] prohibits the federal government from freeing slaves brought into federal territories.
"We think ... that [black people] are not included, and were not intended to be included, under the word "citizens" in the Constitution, and can, therefore, claim none of the rights and privileges which that instrument provides for and secures to citizens of the United States. On the contrary, they were at that time [of America's founding] considered as a subordinate and inferior class of beings who had been subjugated by the dominant race, and, whether emancipated or not, yet remained subject to their authority, and had no rights or privileges but such as those who held the power and the Government might choose to grant them."
"Now, ... the right of property in a slave is distinctly and expressly affirmed in the Constitution. ... Upon these considerations, it is the opinion of the court that the act of Congress which prohibited a citizen from holding and owning property of this kind in the territory of the United States north of the [36°N 36' latitude] line therein mentioned, is not warranted by the Constitution, and is therefore void."
***
Buchanan argued that a federal slave code should protect the rights of slave-owners in any federal territory. He alluded to a pending Supreme Court case, Dred Scott v. Sandford, which he stated would permanently settle the issue of slavery. In fact, Buchanan already knew the outcome of the case, and had even played a part in its disposition.
Added to timeline:
History of Leadership In The States
Date:
