Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)

1) Link to the Actual Opinion
Read the U.S. Reports opinion (PDF)

2) Summary of the Opinion
Dred Scott, an enslaved man, sued for freedom after living in free territories. The Supreme Court ruled that African Americans, whether enslaved or free, were not citizens under the Constitution and therefore had no standing to sue. The Court also struck down the Missouri Compromise as unconstitutional, claiming Congress lacked authority to prohibit slavery in the territories.

3) Why It Mattered
The decision inflamed sectional tensions, delegitimized compromise efforts, and accelerated the nation’s slide toward the Civil War. It is widely regarded as one of the Court’s gravest mistakes.

4) What It Provided or Took Away

• Took Away: Citizenship rights and access to federal courts for African Americans.
• Took Away: Congress’s power to ban slavery in U.S. territories.

5) Overreach or Proper Role?
This was blatant judicial overreach, reading racist assumptions into constitutional silence and striking down long-standing political compromises. It undermined both the Court’s legitimacy and the Union’s stability.

6) Plain-English Impact Today
The 13th and 14th Amendments completely overturned Dred Scott. Today, anyone born in the United States is a citizen, and slavery is abolished. The case survives only as a warning of how disastrously wrong the Court can go.

• Slavery
• Citizenship
• Civil War Era
• Foundational