The Dred Scott Decision by Brendan January

Neither Dred nor Harriet Scott could read or write and they needed both logistical and financial support to plead their case. The other stated that any person taken to a free territory automatically became free and could not be re-enslaved upon returning to a slave state. One statute allowed any person of any color to sue for wrongful enslavement. Louis Circuit Court against Irene Emerson based on two Missouri statutes. In April 1846, Dred and Harriet filed separate lawsuits for freedom in the St. Scott tried multiple times to purchase his freedom from Irene, but she refused.įor unknown reasons, Dred and Harriet Scott never tried to run away or sue for freedom while living in or traveling through free states and territories. Louis to live with her father and hired out Scott and his family. John Emerson died suddenly in 1843 in Iowa, and his enslaved workers became Irene’s property. It’s unclear if Scott and his family accompanied them or stayed in St. Louis with Scott and his family (which now included two daughters), but they struggled to find success and soon moved to Iowa.

After the army honorably discharged Emerson in 1842, he and Irene returned to St. In October 1838, Emerson, his wife Irene and their enslaved workers returned to Wisconsin. Emerson then moved to Louisiana, a slave state, where he met and married Eliza (Irene) Sandford in February 1838 Dred Scott soon joined them.ĭid you know? Dred Scott, along with several members of his family, was formally emancipated by his owner just three months after the Supreme Court denied them their freedom in the Dred Scott decision. Louis but left Dred and Harriet Scott behind and hired them out.

There, Scott married Harriet Robinson, also enslaved, in a rare civil ceremony her owner transferred ownership of Harriet to Emerson. John Emerson purchased Scott and eventually took him to Illinois, a free state, and then to Fort Snelling in Wisconsin Territory where the Missouri Compromise had outlawed slavery. After Blow died in 1832, army surgeon Dr.

The Dred Scott Decision by Brendan January