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Dred Scott vs. Sandford

Joseph Hamrick
History 105, Section 23, Fall 2012
America during the middle of the 19th century was in a very testy
situation, slavery. The slavery situation did not come up in this century
alone, but had been around every since the founding of the colonies.
One issue brought the slavery situation and citizenship to the minds
and front pages of Americans and newspapers from the north and the
south, The Dred Scott vs. Sandford case. The case was a turning point
in American history, and would forever change the way the slavery and
citizenship issue was handled. The Dred Scott vs. Sandford case tested
the views of Americans in the north and in the south by challenging
important American values such as citizenship, role of government,
equality, slavery, and also the nations view of the Supreme Courts
decision. With their opposing views the North and the South showed
how fragile America government was at this time, and the decision the
Supreme Court made concerning citizenship showed the differences in
the two sides.
Most of the southern leaders were proslavery, but the leaders did
not all agree on the best ways to protect the south and slavery
regarding the government. Many wanted states rights when concerning
slavery with no interference from the federal government, while others
advocated for states rights but wanted the federal union to protect

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slavery (Finkelman, pg.127). While the south was stuck trying to figure
out the way it was going to protect slavery the north had more support
for getting rid of slavery although there were some northerners who
supported slavery.
The advocates of states rights in the south believed that the
decision regarding Dred Scott was a win for them, because according
to the Mercury newspaper the supreme court has never been though
the special guardian of state rights and the interests of the south
(Finkelman, Pg.130). The southern states believed that the government
had finally given them rightful equality when concerning government
(Finkelman, pg. 131). The northerners however, saw this decision as a
lose, and even saw it as the Supreme Court as trying to nationalize
slavery. The tribune newspaper, from New York, a northern paper
stated that, This judgment annihilates all Compromises and brings us
face to face with the great issue in the right shape Under any other
rule, all our Territories are henceforth Slave Territories, on the way to
be ripened into slave states (Finkelman, Pg. 145). This decision on
Dred Scott brought a fissure between the way the north and the south
viewed the national government.
When it came to citizenship regarding the Dred Scott case, again
there were major differences between the north and the south. The
north believed slaves to be able to gain their freedom, but with the
decision the Supreme Court made The Evening Post (New York) stated

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that, it has annihilated at a single blow the citizenship of the entire
colored population of the country (Finkelman, Pg. 147). The south
however believed slaves to be property and rejoiced in the ruling of the
Dred Scott case, they felt relevant in politics because the Supreme
Court had sided with them and given them a chance to maintain a
certain power in the union. These very different views of citizenship
once again showed how the north and south differed on very important
issues, and again showed the fragility of the nation during this time.
The main element in the Dred Scott vs. Sandford case that
showcased the differences in the views of north and south based on
the decision the Supreme Court made was the whole element of
equality and citizenship and how the Supreme Court could make a case
on these issues. The south believed that slaves were their property and
had no rights when it came to the constitution. The Daily Picayune, a
southern newspaper, argued that the states should have the right to
grant citizenship to their people (Finkelman, Pg.133). This belief would
leave the states deciding whether or not someone is equal enough to
be counted as a citizen. The North however, argued that slaves have
the right to be citizens and have equal rights and opportunities as the
white men did. In the newspaper Independent (New York), a very
strong northern support paper, it states on the issue of citizenship and
equality that with what the Dred Scott case said then the entire
Declaration of Independence must be a lie. The paper states that the

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founders must have known it to be a lie because they did not give all
men the liberties that the Declaration stated, and that the founders
considered Negros to not be men (Finkelman, Pg. 150). These two
important views, Citizenship and Equality, are main reason as to the
nation had intense responses toward the decision the Supreme Court
made.
At this time in American History the north and the south were
divided on almost every important issue regarding the nation and what
their view of the United States should be. The fact that both sides felt
so strongly in their views left little room for cooperation from the sides,
the pride of the south could not let the north take away a staple of
their economy in slavery, and the north could not see why the south
didnt understand why slavery was inhumane. Many of the issues dealt
with the role of the government in regards slavery, and this separated
the sides even more. The south wished for states rights to make up
their own policies regarding salves and citizenship, while the north
believed the federal government must assert itself to rid the country of
slavery. The north believed that the Dred Scott case had, stripped
Congress of a power to exclude slavery from the
territories(Finkelman, Pg. 147) and that if slavery is allowed to
spread into the territories all the acts placed before to prevent this
were powerless, and that the federal government would be weakened.
The effects of this case regarding the north and the south showed the

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lack of faith in their government, and ultimately split the country in
half.
The Dred Scott vs. Sandford case brought forth many issues that
America as a nation had to face such as citizenship, slavery, role of
government, and equality. With the decision the Supreme Court made
on the case the nation was almost literally split in half because of the
deep divisions the north and south had on each issue. The issues
sparked intense and heated debates between the two sides, but more
importantly they showed how controversial the case was. With the
Supreme Court sided more or less with the south the northern states
felt cheated, and the weakness of the Supreme Court could be seen as
well as the fragility of the nation during this period of time. The
outcome of the Dred Scott vs. Sandford case can be attributed as to
one of the main causes as to why the civil war started and the issues
mentioned above became key points of politics after the war ended.

Bibliography
Finkelman, Paul. Dred Scott v. Sandford A Brief History with
Documents.
Boston. Bedford/St.Martins. 1997. Print.