Who was dread Scott?

Answer 1

Scott had a number of lawyers, the best known of which was Montgomery Blair, who served as Postmaster General under Lincoln during the Civil war. As a side note, Blair was the great-grandfather of actor Montgomery Clift.

Answer 2

Dred Scott was a slave who belonged to a US Army surgeon, Dr. Emerson, and traveled with him to various military bases in the mid-19th-century. Some of the places they lived were "free" States and territories that outlawed slavery.

After the doctor died, Scott tried to buy his and his family's freedom from the doctor's widow, but she refused, so he attempted to sue for his freedom in court under the "once free, always free" doctrine. "Once free" was a common law practice that allowed slaves who had lived in states prohibiting slavery to be formally emancipated, under the theory that once a person had been freed he (or she) couldn't be re-enslaved.

Dred Scott's case was unsuccessfully tried first in the state courts in 1846. In 1853, Scott sued John Sanford (widow Emerson's brother, who claimed to be the Scott family's real owner) in US District Court and lost. The case was appealed to the Circuit Court and finally to the US Supreme Court.

The US Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in favor of John Sanford's, returning Dred Scott and his family to slavery. Chief Justice Roger B. Taney delivered the Opinion of the Court that held slaves, former slaves and descendants of slaves could never be US citizens, and thus had no right to bring suit in court.

After the trial, the Scott family was purchased by a former owner and freed by manumission (a legal procedure).

The decision of the Dred Scott case is considered one of the major catalysts to the start of the US Civil War.

Case Citation:

Dred Scott v. Sanford, 60 US 393 (1857)
a slave who unsuccessfully sued for freedom. a slave who unsuccessfully sued for freedom.

Answer 3

Dread Scott was a former slave who tried to sue his owner for abuse, but the supreme court made a decision that slaves are property not people, therefore dread Scott lost. (property cant sue)

Hopefully this helped!