Thursday, March 6, 2014

On This Date in Minnesota History: March 6

March 6, 1857 - Dred Scott v. Sandford was decided by the U.S. Supreme Court on this date.  “Delivered by Chief Justice Roger Taney, this opinion declared that slaves were not citizens of the United States and could not sue in Federal courts. In addition, this decision declared that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional and that Congress did not have the authority to prohibit slavery in the territories. The Dred Scott decision was overturned by the 13th and 14th Amendments to the Constitution.”1

Dred Scott and his wife Harriet’s lawsuit claimed that because they had lived from 1836 to 1840 at Fort Snelling in Minn. with their owner,
Dr. John Emerson, Fort Snelling’s surgeon, and in other free territories, they should therefore be granted their freedom.2

1http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/DredScott.html
2http://www.historicfortsnelling.org/History/slavery-fort-Snelling




Dred Scott
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:DredScott.jpg




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