Back to the 1850’s…Law in the 1850’s

Rights of African AmericansStill the Fugitive Slave Act

Whether free or slave you could NOT be citizen

Still segregation (of pretty much everything, and YES it was segregated in the North)

Couldn’t vote (a lot of states had previously allowed African Americans to vote and then took it away)

Could not testify in court (against a white person) in Ohio and many other states

Some states (Indiana) barred African Americans from entering

Lots of violence and mob action

Often marriages between African Americans were not recognized

Owners often named the slaves

Even if you were in a state where you did have some “rights” most whites wouldn’t allow you to use them

Vote, sit on juries, sue, marry whites, etc.

Couldn’t hold public office or jobs

Could rarely if ever own land

“Black codes” or race lawsCharged a fee ($500) to enter a town and promise good behaviorBlacks petitioned… BUT they couldn’t petition the gov’t

Slave-Holders Rights

Who was in charge of making decisions about whether or not an area had slavery?

Was the Fugitive Slave Act constitutional for Northern states?

Slaves were seen as treated as property (even legally)

Mature male slave cost $1000-$2000Free states could NOT emancipate runaway slaves

Dred Scott’s LifeBorn a slave in Virginia in 1795

Supposedly his name was originally Sam but when his brother Dred died, he took on his name

Married Harriet Robinson (also a slave)

Had 4 kids: 2 boys who died in infancy and 2 daughters Eliza and Lizzie

Lizzie lived to be 99 and had no childrenEliza had children- there are still descendants today!

So what happened?

1775, Born to the Blow family in Virginia

1830, Moved to St. Louis, Missouri

1830, the Blow’s sold Dred to John Emerson (doctor in the US Army)

1836, marries Harriet

1838, Emerson married Eliza Irene Sanford in Louisiana

1840, Returned to Missouri

1843, Emerson dies in Iowa territory and Eliza Irene gets his estate (including the Scotts)

Leased the Scotts’ as hired slaves for 3 years

1846, Scott tries to purchase his families freedom… Sanford refuses

1846, hires a local lawyer and files a lawsuit in St. Louis Circuit Courts (Scott v. Emerson)

Judgment was against Scott, but then thrown out for hearsay

BUT THERE’S MORE!!

“So the Negro (in the North) is free, but he cannot share the rights, pleasures, labors, griefs, or even the tomb of him whose equal he has been declared; there is nowhere he can meet him neither in life nor in death.

In the South, where slavery still exists, less trouble is taken to keep the Negro apart; they sometimes share the labors and the pleasures of the white men; people are prepared to mix with them to some extent; legislation is more harsh against them, but customs are more tolerant and gentle.”

Wisconsin was one of the first states to establish black suffrage, but this was accomplished only through a Supreme Court decision after suffrage had been defeated repeatedly at the polls. Like many in the North, Wisconsin residents disliked slavery, but they also felt no desire to integrate with blacks, whom they felt were inferior.

1850, Missouri court decided Dred and Harriet should be granted freedom because they had been illegally held as slaves in free states (Illinois and Wisconsin)

Irene appeals

1852, Missouri Supreme Court strikes down the ruling

“Times now are not as they were when the previous decisions were made”Once free doesn’t mean always free

Emerson’s estate should have been transferred to his wife’s brother, John Sanford

Tried the case in New York in federal court and they lost…

Appealed to the US Supreme Court Dred Scott v. Sandford (a misspelling)

March 6, 1857Any person descended from Africans, whether free or slave, is NOT a citizen of the United States

And since you’re not a citizen, you can’t even use the legal system (courts, sue, etc.)

Ordinance of 1787 could not confer freedom or citizenship within the Northwest to non-whites

Act of 1820 (Missouri Compromise) were voided because it attempted to give citizenship to non-whites in the northern part of the Louisiana Purchase

Dred was property- 5th Amendment