Dred Scott decision

Definition

The Dred Scott decision was a landmark Supreme Court case in 1857 where it was ruled that African Americans, whether enslaved or free, could not be American citizens and therefore had no standing to sue in federal court.

Related terms

Chief Justice Roger B. Taney: He served as the fifth Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, holding that office from 1836 until his death in 1864. He delivered the majority opinion in Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857).

Emancipation Proclamation: An executive order issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, changing the legal status of more than 3 million enslaved people in designated areas of the Confederacy from slave to free.

14th Amendment: Adopted after Civil War, this amendment granted citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States,” which included former slaves recently freed.