WHY IT MATTERED
Taney’s opinion in Dred Scott had far-reaching conse-
quences. Legally, the opinion greatly expanded the
reach of slavery. Politically, it heightened the sectional
tensions that would lead to the Civil War.
Before the Court decided Dred Scott, Americans
widely accepted the idea that Congress and the states
could limit slavery. As the dissenters argued, many
previous acts of Congress had limited slavery—for
example, the Northwest Ordinance had banned slav-
ery in the Northwest Territory—and no one had
claimed that those acts violated property rights.
Taney’s opinion in Dred Scott, however, was a
major change. This expansion of slaveholders’ rights
cast doubt on whether free states could prevent slave
owners from bringing or even selling slaves into free
areas.
As a result, Dred Scott intensified the slavery debate
as no single event had before. In going beyond what
was needed to settle the case before him, Taney’s rul-
ing became a political act, and threw into question
the legitimacy of the Court. Further, Taney’s opinion
took the extreme proslavery position and installed it
as the national law. It not only negated all the com-
promises made to date by pro- and anti-slavery
forces, but it seemed to preclude any possible future
compromises.
HISTORICAL IMPACT
It took four years of bitter civil war to find out if
Taney’s opinion would stand as the law of the land. It
would not. Immediately after the Civil War, the feder-
al government moved to abolish slavery with the
Thirteenth Amendment (1865) and then to extend
state and national citizenship with the Fourteenth
Amendment (1868) to “[a]ll persons born or naturalized
in the United States.” The wording of these amend-
ments was expressly intended to nullify Dred Scott.
These amendments meant that Dred Scott would
no longer be used as a precedent—an earlier ruling
that can be used to justify a current one. Instead, it is
now pointed to as an important lesson on the limits of
the Supreme Court’s power, as a key step on the road
to the Civil War, and as one of the worst decisions ever
made by the Supreme Court.
The Union in Peril 333
Contemporary newspaper article
describing the Dred Scott case.
THINKING CRITICALLY
THINKING CRITICALLY
CONNECT TO HISTORY
1. Developing Historical Perspective
Use the library to
find commentaries on Dred Scott written at the time the
decision was made. Read two of these commentaries
and identify which section—North or South—the writer or
speaker came from. Explain how each person’s region
shaped his or her views.
SEE SKILLBUILDER HANDBOOK, PAGE R11.
CONNECT TO TODAY
2.
Visit the links for Historic Decisions of the Supreme
Court to research what it means to be a citizen of the
United States and what rights that citizenship extends.
Research which constitutional amendments, U.S. laws,
and Supreme Court decisions guarantee the rights of
citizens. Prepare an oral presentation or annotated
display to summarize your findings.
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