During the 1850ÃÂs, the expansion of slavery in America was a major issue as new territories were applying for statehood. The issue concerning the fate of these territories led to clashes between proslavery and antislavery forces. At this time, America was a nation on the verge of collapse and a man by the name of Dred Scott was there to fuel the necessary tensions that would eventually spark the American Civil War. Born in Virginia, Scott moved to Missouri where he was sold to an army doctor named John Emerson. As an army doctor, Emerson traveled to other nearby states and took Scott along where slavery was prohibited. After EmersonÃÂs death, Scott filed suit for his freedom on April 6, 1946 under the contention that he became a free man when he took up residence in territories where slavery was illegal. Almost eleven years later, ScottÃÂs case had reached the U.S.
English: View of Capitol Hill from the U.S. Suprem...
Dred Scott, whose famous case to gain his freedom ...
Roger B. Taney. Library of Congress description: "...Supreme Court, and the final decision sent America into a series of convulsions.
While at Fort Snelling in what is now Minnesota, Scott married a slave woman, Harriet, and they had a daughter, Eliza. In 1846, Scott and Harriet each filed separate suits for their freedom, but HarrietÃÂs case was set aside pending the outcome of her husbandÃÂs legal proceeding. When Emerson died in late 1843, ownership of the Scotts went over to his widow. In ScottÃÂs first suit, he declared that Mrs. Emerson had ÃÂbeat, bruised, and ill-treated himÃÂ. He also declared that he was a free man ever since he took up residence at Fort Armstrong and Fort Snelling. Due to a legal loophole in the case, the judge ordered a second proceeding to be held in December 1847, but Mrs. Emerson appealed the judgeÃÂs order for the second trial to be administered by the Missouri State...