Dred Scott v Sandford was an 1857 decision of the Supreme Court of the United States holding that African Americans, whether enslaved or free, were not and could never become citizens of the United States, so Dred Scott had no standing to sue for his freedom in federal court, and that Congress lacked the constitutional power to prohibit slavery in the federal territories, striking down the Missouri Compromise. The ruling inflamed sectional conflict in the years leading to the Civil War. It was effectively superseded by the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery, and the Fourteenth Amendment, which established birthright citizenship, both ratified after the war, and it is widely regarded, including by the Supreme Court itself, as the worst decision in the Court's history.
Facts
Decision Year Decision Date HoldingDred Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. (19 How.) 393 (1857), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that held that the United States Constitution did not extend American citizenship to people of black African descent, and therefore they could not enjoy the rights and privileges the Constitution conferred upon American citizens. 2 Current Statusthe Court's ruling in Dred Scott was superseded by passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which outlawed slavery, and by Congress with the Civil Rights Act of 1866 conferring full citizenship and equal rights flowing from it. 2 Case Status
Case Status (category)Overruled (in whole or part) 1 Connections
Authored By
Majority opinion by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney.
Decided By
Decided by the United States Supreme Court, 1857.
In Legal System
Matches the existing Griswold v Connecticut precedent for US Supreme Court rulings on this atlas.
In the Other Atlases
Found In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Sources
1. Wikidata: Dred Scott v Sandford
Source: widely considered the worst decision in Court history, superseded by post-Civil War amendmentsView the Source 2. Dred Scott v Sandford (Wikipedia)
WikipediaWikipedia infobox, Decided field
Decided March 6, 1857
Wikipedia infobox, Decided field (year)
Decided March 6, 1857
Wikipedia lead paragraph, first sentence
Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. (19 How.) 393 (1857), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that held that the United States Constitution did not extend American citizenship to people of black African descent, and therefore they could not enjoy the rights and privileges the Constitution conferred upon American citizens.
Wikipedia body text, aftermath section
the Court's ruling in Dred Scott was superseded by passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which outlawed slavery, and by Congress with the Civil Rights Act of 1866 conferring full citizenship and equal rights flowing from it.
In Group: Race and Segregation Cases, Introduction, sentences 1-3
Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. (19 How.) 393 (1857), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that held that the United States Constitution did not extend American citizenship to people of black African descent, and therefore they could not enjoy the rights and privileges the Constitution conferred upon American citizens.
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