: The court ruled that African Americans, whether free or enslaved, were not and could never be citizens of the United States and therefore had no right to sue in federal court.
: Shortly after the ruling, the Scotts were sold back to their original owners, the Blow family, who set them free in May 1857 . Dred Scott lived as a free man for about a year before passing away in 1858. Other Potential Meanings Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857) - National Archives Dred.7z
: The case, known as Dred Scott v. Sandford , reached the U.S. Supreme Court. Chief Justice Roger B. Taney delivered a ruling that stunned the nation: : The court ruled that African Americans, whether
: It declared that the federal government could not prohibit slavery in any U.S. territory, effectively making the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional. Other Potential Meanings Dred Scott v
: Under the legal principle of "once free, always free," the Scotts argued that their residence in free territory made them legally free. While they won an initial trial in 1850, the decision was overturned by the Missouri Supreme Court.
: In 1846, Dred Scott and his wife, Harriet, filed a lawsuit in the St. Louis Circuit Court for their freedom. Their claim was based on the fact that their enslaver, a U.S. Army surgeon named Dr. John Emerson, had taken them to live in the free state of Illinois and the Wisconsin Territory (where slavery was illegal) before returning to the slave state of Missouri.