Dred Scott Case Essay

In 1846, a slave named Dred Scott sued for his freedom in a St. Louis city court. The had what seemed to be a very strong case. They had lived with their owner, who was an army surgeon in the free Territory of Wisconsin. Dred Scott sued on the fact that he had been held as a slave in a free state, then taken back to a slave state. Many courts had ruled that once you're a free man you are always a free man. This looked to be just a simple case in which Scott should've been ruled a free man. However, it turned into one of the most controversial court cases ever. The motives for this ruling seemed to be that the courts wanted to defer the decision of slavery unto the states. It was a crucial case which in the southerner’s eyes decided the national …show more content…
Then, in 1830, he moved to missouri, and he took Scott with him. Two years later his owner died and Scott was sold to John Emerson. Emerson was an army surgeon, and he traveled a lot. So, when Emerson was assigned to Illinois he took scott with him. Under the Ordinance of 1787 Illinois was technically a free state, however slave owners that had previously owned their slaves were allowed to keep their slaves as property. In 1836, Emerson was reassigned to a Wisconsin Territory, and he took Scott with him. It was there that Scott met his wife named Harriet Robinson. Robinson was owned by a local justice of the peace. Whoever when they were married her ownership was transferred to Emerson. Later, Emerson was transferred to louisiana. However, this time he decided not to bring his slaves with him so, Scott and his wife remained in Wisconsin. While Emerson was in Louisiana he married a woman named Eliza Irene Sanford. Then the couple went to Saint Louis and requested for SCott and his wife to make an 1000 mile journey to meet them. Rather than just staying there, they traveled by themselves down the mississippi river, and never once made an attempt to escape. It was only after Emerson died did scott try to