N a m e _________________________________

Suvid Bordia D a t e 1/17/23

_________________P e r i o d __________
Slot E

DRED SCOTT AND THE LINCOLN

DOUGLAS DEBATES
THE DRED SCOTT DECISION
In 1857, a Supreme Court case, Dred Scott v. Stanford, heightened
tensions between the North and South. Dred Scott was a slave to
an army doctor named John Emerson in Missouri. Scott brought
Scott along on travels to the free state of Illinois and then to the
Wisconsin Territory, where slavery was illegal. Scott returned to
Missouri, and after Dr. Emerson had passed away, Scott petitioned
his widow for freedom. She refused. Scott sued in the state courts
for his freedom. He claimed that his residence in a free territory
made him a free man. After a decade of appeals, his case made it to
the Supreme Court.

In 1857, the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice

Roger Taney, a former slaveholder, wrote the 7-2
decision. The ruling went against Scott, stating Dred Scott
that Dred Scott would remain a slave. The court
then broadened its argument by exclaiming Scott
didn’t have a right to sue because he was
property, not a citizen.
Justice Taney wrote:
“A free negro of the African race, whose
ancestors were brought to this country and
sold as slaves, is not a "citizen" within
the meaning of the Constitution of the
Justice Roger Taney United States.”
Since Scott was property, the court
reasoned that the government could
not seize Scott (private property) from a citizen (Emerson) without
due process of the law. Therefore Congress couldn’t ban slavery in
the territories because that would violate the property rights of
slaveholders in those territories. Thus, the Missouri Compromise
and other popular sovereignty decisions were unconstitutional.
It looked as if the Supreme Court had ruled that banning slavery
was unconstitutional.
1. What did Dred Scott sue for? _________________________________________________________________
Dred Scott sued for his freedom.

2. What was the basis for his lawsuit? ____________________________________________________________

Dred Scott and his family moved to the North when their owner
__________________________________________________________________________________________
decided to, and because slavery was not allowed in those states, Scott thought himself and his family
__________________________________________________________________________________________
should be free.
3. Did Scott win his case? ______________________________________________________________________
Dred Scott did not win his case.

4. Who led the opinion on the Supreme Court’s decision? _____________________________________________

Roger Taney led the opinion.

5. How did this decision divide the country even more? _______________________________________________
Roger Taney ruled that all people of African descent
__________________________________________________________________________________________
are not citizens, and called the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional, angering the Northerners
__________________________________________________________________________________________
because they thought that if these decisions kept going, slavery would be impossible to abolish.

© 2021 All Rights Reserved.

N a m e _________________________________D a t e _________________P e r i o d __________

DRED SCOTT AND THE LINCOLN DOUGLAS DEBATES

THE LINCOLN DOUGLAS DEBATES
A year after the Dred Scott decision, the 1858 Illinois senate
election made national news. A relatively unknown Republican
named Abraham Lincoln challenged incumbent Stephen Douglas
for senate. Since Douglas planned on running for President the
following two years, the country watched.
Douglas was a two-term senator with an impressive record and
extensive financial resources. In contrast, the Republican party
was just four years old, and Lincoln was a virtual unknown.
Lincoln was a former one-term Whig congressman. He never
attended college or university and taught himself law by rigorously
reading previous legal cases and law books, obtaining a license
by 25. After the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854,
Lincoln became a Republican two years later.
Because Lincoln knew he was outmatched against Douglas’
popularity and financial resources, he challenged the “Little Giant”
to a series of seven debates throughout Illinois. Thousands came
to see the debates while even more would read about them in
every newspaper in the country. Much of the debates focused on
slavery in the territories.
Douglas opposed slavery but favored popular sovereignty—each
territory’s right to chose. In his attacks, Douglas claimed that
Lincoln wanted African Americans to be fully equal to whites.
Lincoln denied the accusation but insisted that slavery was “a
moral, social, and political wrong.” Calling slavery a “vast moral
evil,” Lincoln did not support popular sovereignty and argued that
slavery should not be allowed to spread.
During the second debate at Freeport, Lincoln pressed Douglas
about his views on Kansas and Nebraska and popular sovereignty. Lincoln asked Douglas if the
settlers of a territory could vote to exclude slavery before it became a state? Everyone knew
that the Dred Scott decision said no, the territories could not exclude slavery. Douglas stood
firm with popular sovereignty. He declared that if people did not want slavery in the territory,
they could vote for officials who would not enforce slave property laws. In effect, people could
ignore the Supreme Court’s ruling on Dred Scott. While the argument may have satisfied some
northerners, it had further enraged the South. Douglas’ Freeport Doctrine, as it had become known, had
ended his support among southern democrats and thus ended his national support for the presidency.
In the end, Douglas won the senate seat. However, the unknown Lincoln had gained national
attention for his attacks on the institution of slavery and garnered him support for even a more
prominent seat in office, the presidency.

1. What was Stephen Douglas’ advantage in the Illinois senatorial race? _________________________________
Stephen Douglas was a well known
__________________________________________________________________________________________
candidate with great history and lots of money to support his campaign.
2. What was Douglas’ view of slavery? ____________________________________________________________
Although Douglas opposed slavery, he believed in popular sovereignty
__________________________________________________________________________________________
, in which the state/territory has the right to make their choice on slavery.
3. What was Lincoln’s view of slavery?____________________________________________________________
Lincoln thought that slavery was a “moral evil” and it should have
__________________________________________________________________________________________
not been continued, although he disagreed that African Americans should be equal to whites.

4. What was the Freeport Doctrine? ______________________________________________________________

The Freeport Doctrine stated that citizens of a state or territory

__________________________________________________________________________________________
could elect individuals that aligned with their views and therefore would make laws according to them.

5. Who won the election?_____________________Who

Stephen Douglas ultimately won?__________________
Abraham Lincoln Why? _________
Abraham
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Lincoln had gained a large popularity for himself and this ultimately won him the seat of the
__________________________________________________________________________________________
president. This eventually led to better laws being created for anti-slavery thinkers.