The Path to Freedom and the End of Slavery in the United States

By Allison Rourke

United States “Home of the Free” has not always been the motto. It took a long and painful

road to get to the point where everyone was free. The Abolitionist are part of the reason we

are all free today. Thank God for the brave souls that were willing to stand up for what was

right. This was a fight against the wealthy and the powerful whom stood to benefit from

keeping slavery legalized. It took men like John Brown that was described as having moral

strength and clarity, to fight for what he believed was right. This unfortunately led to battle.

John Brown gathered an arsenal of weapons to join in the fight to push for Kansas to be a free,

anti-slavery state so the west would follow suit. Brown was angered by the savage bludgeoning

of Senator Charles Sumner by Representative Preston Brooks with Brook’s metal top cane.

Brooks was angry with. Sumner for his anti-slavery speech where he accused southerners of

raping and plundering virgin territory referring to Kansas as they were able to decide whether

they wanted to be a free state. This offended Brooks to the point of rage and that was the

reason for his attack on Sumner at the House of Representatives. Brooks beat Sumner as he

tried to free himself from behind his desk. He was beaten until he Brooks cane broke and even

after Sumner lost consciousness. Charles Sumner was never the same.

As southerners received word of the attack, they cheered but when John Brown heard

about the beating at his encampment in Kansas he and his followers were angered, someone

said caution and Brown replied “Caution, caution it is nothing but the word of cowardice”. On

May 24th, 1856, Brown and four of his sons went out and found five people in favor of slavery
and savagely murdered them. This was not only in retaliation, but also to send a message to all

people that were in favor of slavery. Brown and his followers retreated to the wilderness and

only came out to fight until Brown headed to New York in October of 1856 to collect more

money and weapons.

John Brown met William Lloyd Garrison for the first time on his way back to Kansas when

traveling through Boston. William Lloyd Garrison was a strong advocate for civil rights. He

began his crusade in 1829. He believed that it was a sin to own slaves and that the republic was

corrupt. The creators of the United States Constitution were slave owners therefore they were

pro-slavery, and they would uphold the rights to own slaves. Garrison chastised Brown for his

brutal attacks on the 5 pro-slavery men and reminded him that non-violence was the only path

to victory. Garrison had no idea of Brown’s future as Brown planned to continue his fight into

Africa which was his code word for the south.

Unfortunately, the end of slavery was not coming to an end with these forementioned

efforts. On March 7th, 1857, the Supreme Court had radically altered the status of slavery and

every black person in America. Blacks were so inferior and had no rights which the white man

was bound to respect and that even if a slave was considered free, they may be reduced to

slavery for his benefit. Frederick Douglas one of the most famous freed slaves in America.

Douglas was depressed by the Supreme Court’s decision in the Dred Scott case. Basically,

slavery was legalized in the United States.

The Dred Scott Case was clearly a case of conservative activism. This was evident in the fact that

they overturned laws that had been previously enacted by Congress and designed to bar any

future plans for emancipation of slaves. The writing was on the wall. The outcome of the Dred

Scott case served the rich and those in positions of power that benefited from the act of

slavery. It was also believed to be a way to bring peace to the nation, a final decision to the

debate between the North and the South. The case outcome was not typical or standard of the

court. They should have inquired the background as fully as possible, reviewed the history of

the law on similar cases, and rule in favor of the decision that reflects a clear understanding of

the facts as well as awareness of key arguments in past court rulings.

The Dred Scott decision misinterpreted or misapplied the Constitution by the Supreme

Court treating the Constitution as more of a political compact among independent states and

the Constitution’s language does not support this interpretation. According to the Constitution,

the states are to have equal representation in the Senate and the census-related supermajority

status of slave states in the House of Representatives were written in terms that permitted the

political destruction they offered the South.

 In my research for this paper, it appears that the Supreme Court thought that the decision

in the Dred Scott case was going to bring peace between the North and the South and bring

closure to the dispute on slavery once and for all. This of course did not bring peace to the

abolitionists and made them only want to fight harder to end slavery. It was clear the Supreme

Court’s decision was not impartial in their decision and they were only looking out for

themselves and those who supported them financially as well as politically and to bring peace

and end the conflict once and for all. This of course is not the end of the conflict and eventually

it led to secession of the southern states from the Union and the creation of the Confederate

States of America and eventually a lot of bloodshed by the two in the Civil War that began in

1861.

Chief Justice Taney is best known and often vilified for his part in writing the final majority

opinion in this case. It is ironic that he later swears in President Abraham Lincoln the “Great

Emancipator” in 1861. The Emancipation Proclamation of September 22, 1862, freed enslaved

people living in the Confederacy, but it wouldn’t be until 3 years later that Congress passed the

13th Amendment abolishing slavery in the United States. (Dred Scott Case, 2019-2020)

Cites:

Dred Scott Case, History.com, Updated August 26, 2020, Original Nov 4, 2019

https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/dred-scott-case