Dred Scott Caseee!!!??

Question

obviously the decision that the court made in the dred scott case was morally wrong but can anyone think of any arguments i could use as a thesis in a paper about the dred scott case

Answer 1

Since I live in Frederick, MD where Roger Taney practiced law and lived before becoming a Supreme Court Justice, I can think of three:

1. While the decision may have morally wrong in terms of what we think of as morally wrong, why was it really correct in terms of that period of time. Remember that slaves were counted as 3/5th of a person for representation purposes and were considered as property, and the 5th Amendment, other than the famous "self-incrimination" also dealt with just compensation for property taken by the government.

A second thesis was what would have happened if Taney had decided the other way- that slaves who had entered free states were entitle to be free? Think of that in terms of the legislation of that time, the Compromise of 1850 and the Fugative Slave Laws. While people think Taney helped to start the Civil War, he would have probably helped start it anyway.

You might take some time out to read the decision. The abolitionists had put up a " slow, chest-high ball" for Taney to handle. In fact, Dredd Scott would have been set free (and was) if his owner, an abolitionist, didn't decide to make the case in court. Taney did not actually rule on the matter per se. He ruled that Dred Scott had no "standing" (was not eligable) to pursue this case in the Federal Courts.

Answer 2

The Supreme Court decided that as Dred Scott was a slave, he could not file suit in federal courts. The Constitution listed slaves as only 3/5 of person, until the ratification of the 13th and 14th Amendments.

Dred Scott argued that he was brought to a free state (one that had banned slavery), therefore he was a free person while in that state.

Answer 3

I have to echo cattbarf on this. The decision was a ruling on the standing of the plaintiff, and not on the condition of servitude the plaintiff was in.

When you read it, you will see it's pretty straightforward legal stuff. They're not really concerned about what's right and wrong in this case, but rather whether the case itself could stand on it's own merits.

The first link here is from Washington University at St. Louis, with the background documents of the case as it started in Missouri. The second is the decision itself.