Dred Scott's Argumentative Analysis

STEP 5 → Put your essay together below, review it, and revise! Be sure that your arguments are clear and well-supported by evidence with in-text citations. America was and is known as the “land of the free.” But American was not always a free country for all those who lived in it. African-Americans were not treated equally to any whites who lived in America in the colonial time period. In the South, slavery was a dominant way people lived, either you were a slave, or a slave owner. Slaves had to suffer harsh conditions, as they were not viewed as apart of American Citizenship nor considered humans. Free or not, African Americans were never created equally to white Americans at this point in history. The Declaration of Independence only seemed to apply to a certain group of men, that group did not include African-Americans. According to forbes.com, under the Declaration and Constitution, blacks had “no rights which the white man was bound to respect.” At this time in America's founding history, African-Americans were never to be treated as people, as they were property to their owner and slaves to everyone else, they were not to be considered as anything more. It was only normal that every white male were to own their own slaves primarily in the South. Because this was common, before the Civil War nearly 4 million black slaves toiled in the American South. One of the worst historical resolutions in America was the time of slavery. In colonial times African-Americans were treated with zero respect as human beings, especially in the South. Most masters viewed their slaves as they did their land- “thing to be worn out, not improved” according to Living Conditions of Slaves. Masters only provided what was needed to keep their slaves healthy and able to complete the work that needed to get done. All slaves commonly lived in rough cabins crowded together. Slaves were not legally allowed to live or be with their real families. They wore clothing made of coarse homespun Lin or “Negro cloth.” Slaves worked from dawn to dusk, and dealt with harsh and inhumane punishments if the work done did not meet their masters expectations or needs. While, escaping was an option it was not …show more content…
Slavery was no longer as dominant as it was in the South, in fact, slavery in the North was abolished at this time. However, African-Americans in the North were still not treated as equally. Even though blacks were free from slavery in the North they still could not have the same rights or freedoms that whites had had at this time in America. One of the most controversial events preceding the Civil War was the Dred Scott case. This case argued the fact that any free African-American was still not respected as an American citizen.According to history.com Scott argued that time spent in a free state entitled him to emancipation. But the court decided that no black, free or slave, could claim U.S. citizenship, and therefore blacks were unable to petition the court for their freedom. African-Americans still were looked down upon even in the North. They could not yet vote or get certain jobs when whites could. Even though the North finally considered African-American males as men and not property, “all men are created equal” still did not proceed to apply to