I have written before about the infamous Dred Scott decision, which the Supreme Court handed down this week in 1857. In that case the slave Dred Scott sued for his freedom, arguing that because his travels with his owner took him into free territories where slavery was banned, legally he was a free man. The Supreme Court, as we know, ruled otherwise. In this lesson I want to review the case in a larger context because the political ramifications of Dred Scott are virtually unequaled in our history.
In its decision, the court ruled that because Dred Scott was originally a slave, he was not a U.S. citizen, and therefore had no standing in a federal court, meaning he couldn’t sue in a federal court, meaning he remained a slave.
Had the court left it there, sticking with the technical and arguably (at the time) correct point that Scott’s lack of citizenship undermined his case, Dred Scott would never have achieved its notoriety.
But the court went further, rendering the sweeping opinion that even if Scott could sue in a federal court he would have lost because the Missouri Compromise of 1820, which forbade slavery’s expansion into all new territories north of Missouri’s southern border (resulting in the free territories that Scott based his lawsuit on) was unconstitutional.
Slaves were property, the court ruled, and under the Constitution Congress had no power to forbid citizens from taking their property anywhere they wanted.
Politically, the decision galvanized northerners, who had long complained about the Constitution’s “Three-fifths Clause,” in which slaves were counted as three-fifths of a white person when deciding a state’s population. Since a state’s population also determined the number of representatives a state sent to Congress, southern states had dominated both Congress and the presidency. In Dred Scott’s wake, northerners, especially northern Republicans, concluded that southern Democrats now also controlled the Supreme Court.
Equally important, the preeminent political issue of the day was whether the new territories the United States had acquired in the Mexican-American War were to become free or slave states. Northerners argued the former, southerners the latter, but many in the middle argued for “popular” sovereignty,” in which the people in those territories would decide the issue for themselves.
Yet the court’s Dred Scott decision said that neither the politicians nor the people would decide the issue. Just us judges.
Speaking of politics, the decision so inflamed a former politician — then practicing law — that he, Abraham Lincoln, became the first Republican to run for and win the presidency in the election of 1860. Lincoln’s election led to the Civil War, which trumped even the Supreme Court in deciding the slavery issue once and for all.
Bruce G. Kauffmann’s e-mail address is bruce@historylessons.net.
Schools
Bruce’s History Lessons: The Political ramifications of the Dred Scott decision
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Terre Haute North, South African-American clubs taking educational journey to Washington, D.C.
Students and teachers from Terre Haute North and South Vigo high schools saw three years of hard work pay off Monday afternoon as they lined up eagerly at the doors of a school bus to start a long ride to Washington, D.C.
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BRUCE’S HISTORY LESSONS: A woman’s voice of moral clarity
This week (June 1) in 1950, Margaret Chase Smith, the Republican senator from Maine and the first woman ever to serve as both a U.S. senator and member of the House of Representatives, gave a speech that, looking back, was a voice of moral clarity amidst a cacophony of madness and vilification.
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Education-technology grants given to Valley
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Turkey Run presents academic awards
Turkey Run High School freshmen, sophomores and juniors were honored at an awards program on May 16.
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Goals, Pride & Achievements
Laci Pethtel of Oblong is the 2013 recipient of the Lincoln Trail College Professional Assistants Group scholarship.
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VCSC to offer summer meals
Sarah Scott Middle School will offer free breakfast and lunch for people 18 years old and younger Monday through June 20.
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Road Runners name scholarship winners
The Wabash Valley Road Runners have named Anne Mullican and Justin Clapp as the recipients of the 2013 WVRR scholarships.
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South student blazes competition with research
Ryan Chung, a junior at Terre Haute South Vigo High School, placed first at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in the computer science category.
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Indiana State University Dean’s List
Indiana State University has announced its dean’s list for the spring 2013 semester. Area students recognized for their academic achievement include:
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RP recognizes outstanding students
Riverton Parke High School’s class of 2013 was honored on May 15 at the annual senior awards night in the school’s cafetorium.
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Student blood donors receive scholarships
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High schoolers attend automotive, welding skills competitions
Area high school students put their skills to the test at the annual Automotive Skills and Welding Skills competitions on April 18 at Ivy Tech Community College—Wabash Valley.
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Riverton Parke presents concert, music awards
The Riverton Parke Jr.-Sr. High School Music Department presented its annual Spring Concert on May 13 in the school gymnasium.
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Turkey Run senior awards and honors
Turkey Run High School seniors were honored at an awards program May 13. Scholarships and departmental and activity awards were presented.
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South earns national yearbook design honor
The Terre Haute South yearbook, Uaxactun, has been recognized for excellence and featured in the 2013 Gotcha Covered Look Book, Volume 11 celebrating the best-of-the-best in yearbook design and coverage.
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Vincennes University Dean’s List
The Vincennes University Dean’s List for Spring 2013 includes students from the Vincennes campus, Jasper campus, Aviation Technology Center in Indianapolis, military bases, and other extended sites.
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4 more honored as Four Star Schools
In addition to the three Vigo County schools (Terre Haute South Vigo High School, Dixie Bee Elementary and Fayette Elementary schools) that were announced earlier, four more Wabash Valley schools were recognized as Indiana Four Star Schools.
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Bruce’s history lessons: Truman’s decision to recognize Israel
This week (May 14) in 1948, at the direction of President Harry Truman, the United States recognized the existence of the newly formed state of Israel, which had declared independence earlier that day. It was, Truman later stated, among the most important decisions of his presidency.
- Reunion listings: May 16, 2013
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Chances and Services for Youth to participate in food program
The Chances and Services for Youth recently announced plans to participate in the Summer Food Service Program.
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South Latin students compete at convention
Terre Haute South Vigo High School Latin students competed with other Indiana schools at the recent state convention at ISU.
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Southwest Parke School Corp. receives eLearning grant
Southwest Parke Community School Corp. has received an Imagining and Creating eLearning grant for the 2013-2014 school year through the Indiana Department of Education.
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Otter Creek competes in regional Academic Super Bowl
The Otter Creek Academic Super Bowl teams competed in the regional Academic Super Bowl competition on April 27 at Sarah Scott Middle School.
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Riverton Parke FFA teams compete at April 16 contest
Two Riverton Parke FFA Parliamentary Procedure Teams competed at the section competition for the Parliamentary Procedure Demonstration Contest on April 16 at the Indiana FFA Center in Trafalgar.
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