Dred Scott
This is a page from the compiled proceedings in Dred Scott v. John F.A. Sandford. This case was originally held federally in 1853 in the U.S. Circuit Court for the Eastern District of Missouri in St. Louis. This was the result of years of legal battles in which Dred Scott and his wife, Harriet, sued for their freedom. Dred Scott had lived as an enslaved man in free territory for years. This led to Scott’s legal claim that he and his wife were free, due to their residence in a free territory where slavery was prohibited. The Circuit Court in Missouri sided with Sandford, which Scott appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. On March 6, 1857, Chief Justice Roger B. Taney and the majority of the Court issued their opinion that enslaved people were not citizens of the United States. As such, they ruled that they could not expect any protection from the federal government or the courts. The opinion also ruled that Congress did not have the authority to ban slavery from a federal territory. This ruling further inflamed national rhetoric, and moved the nation closer to Civil War.
Compiled Proceedings in Dred Scott v. John F. A. Sandford, dated November 2, 1853. National Archives Identifier: 7077511
View and download the Compiled Proceedings in Dred Scott v. John F. A. Sandford on the National Archives Catalog. You can explore more records held in the National Archives at Kansas City through the National Archives Catalog or by visiting our research room in person. These records are located in Record Group 21: Records of the District Court of the United States, Series: Equity and Law Final Record Books, July 1, 1831–June 30, 1915.