Slavery Fight for Freedom

In March 5,1857, after deliberating for several months, Chief Justice Roger Taney issued the ruling. The Court determined, by a majority of seven to two, that Dred Scott and his family were still slaves. It stated that even if, the Scotts had traveled into free territory, moving back to St.Louis had made them slaves once more. However, The Court decided to go further and addressed other issues regarding slavery and blacks. On citizenship, the Court decided no black could ever be a citizen, in Taney's own words "slaves nor their descendants, whether... free or not, were then acknowledged as part of the people [citizens]"# According to this, Scott was only property , therefore he did not have the right to file suit, and as a result was never free. The Court also decided to rule the

Out of all the cases John Adams, admitted that it was one of the most exhausting cases, but also one of the best pieces of services he ever did for his country. It is easily safe to say that John Adams was prideful about this case, and his strong principles and beliefs about a fair trial chose him to take this case on, and remain one of the most respected men in his

In conclusion, African Americans were denied of their amendments and whites were racist towards them. African Americans were not free even though they had rights that they could live

to which the president of the United States has signed his name,” (Dudley 181). Just by demanding that all slavery be abolished in certain areas, this considerably changed the ways of the African American people. With this new feeling of freedom, many African Americans began to fight for other rights to accompany this. (Dudley 180-183)

Throughout the 1800s in America, slavery was a controversy between the north and the south. A Slave was one who was the property of another human being under law and was forced to obey them. The North felt that slavery was unfair and inhumane, whereas in the South, they felt as though slavery was crucial to their success. African American slaves were not allowed many rights: they were not allowed to testify in court against a white person, could not receive an education, or even sign contracts. Due to the brutality they faced each day, many slaves escaped with hopes to find freedom. The Underground Railroad, a system utilized by many runaway slaves to help them escape from the South to Canada, played a large role in the downfall of slavery and eventual abolition in the United States following the Civil War.

The American Civil War is also referred to as the war between the Northern and Southern States or the Rebellion War that began in 1861. Slavery was regarded as the main cause leading to the start of the war, as a high level of discrimination against the African Americans existed upon their arrival in the United States. The African Americans were either sold and traded by the elders in their villages or plucked from their native countries for a sometimes deadly transatlantic journey to serve wealthy southern families. They were not viewed as peers but as laborers and farmers. Americans who were rich and owned large plantations took the African Americans as their slaves. They suffered as if they were not worthy of compensation including working without pay and the standard consequence was lynching. During the period, they fought for their freedom, which was not given to them until the Civil War was fought. Consequently, they aligned themselves with the white men who were also soldiers in fighting for their freedom.

Cotton was the king of the South. It was bringing in large amounts of money as the textile industry in the North grew. Slavery was vital to the economic well-being of the South, and when the North began to question the “peculiar institution” of the South the wall of civility between the two sectionalized areas began to crumble. Due to the growing issue of slavery in the 1850s, the United States of America was in a state of total disarray and turmoil. The tension that had always existed between the North and South over the matter of slavery was no longer ignorable. As the United States expanded to the West, the status of slavery in the new states erupted in a violence that could no longer be controlled by sectionalism. The peace treaties that had worked in the past became Band-Aids over stab wounds. Southern states began to leave the United States of America to form the Confederate States of America and war was declared as the South fired onto the forts of the North. The Civil War was caused directly by the issue of slavery; the fugitive slave act in the Compromise of 1850, Dred Scott v. Sandford, and Bleeding Kansas prove that slavery was the key factor in the eruption of the nation.

The Civil War, occurring between the years 1861 and 1865, was a devastating effect of sectionalism caused by the division of the country on the topic of slavery. Slavery impacted every aspect of the country, whether in the North or the South, though primarily in the South; major impacts were in the politics and economy of the early country ways which inevitably caused the Civil War.

new slaves in from places. (Lawson, 1987, 21-29) The court still was denying Dred Scotts freedom. Shortly

The two questions asked was “had the Circuit Court of the United States jurisdiction to hear and determine the case between these parties?” And “If it had jurisdiction, is the judgment it has given erroneous or not?” He didn’t have any right to sue because in the eyes of the court, black people were not considered citizens. If he went to a free state, then he became a free man was another idea that was shut down by the Court.

In his report to the secretary of war, Major Butler poses the question that many individuals did during the time regarding fugitive slaves; “are they free”, and if so, “what do we do with them?” (Doc. A) Many adopted the slaves as proletarian workers and farmers, and as people began to recognize the importance of their labor, the war began to shift. During the Civil War, a group of African Americans met to discuss President Abraham Lincoln’s proposal for Black resettlement in a foreign land. This proposal was immediately shut down due to the burden of fighting an all-out war. Under such trying circumstances, the idea of removing Black citizens through colonization was unthinkable. Although Lincoln did not think colonizing millions of African Americans was possible, he remained convinced that the profound differences between the White and Black races made such resettlement desirable. (Doc.

The decision that was made in the 1857 by the Supreme Court about Dred Scott becoming a freeman was not reasonable or logical. In the 1850’s the nation was faced with a struggle over slavery that would threaten to tear the West apart; the free states from the slave states. The main question that Dred Scott argued was whether a slave’s status overrode his previous situation when he entered a free state or territory.

A Free African named Dred Scott was accused of being a former slave and was put on trial. The Chief justice, Roger Taney, was extremely biased for the Slave owners because he thought slavery helped America immensely. With his opinion, the verdict was that free states don’t exist and that he is a slave in any state. This verdict forced Dred Scott back into slavery when he was a free man. This event is significant because this court case was during the Mexican American war which fought over the annexation of a slave state and Dred Scott forced back into slavery shows that Slave owners and the Supreme Court justice will stop at nothing to make sure slavery is consistent and successful in America. Abolitionists were frustrated because of all the work been done to abolish slavery has shown to be useless based off of the events that are happening around them. Also, the verdict came out bad for the abolitionists, therefore; there's no telling what Slave owners can do that can influence the government to accustom to their

Eric Foner, a professor at History at Columbia University states that, “Amistad presents a highly misleading account of the case’s historical significance, in the process sugarcoating the relationship between the American judiciary and slavery. The film gives the distinct impression that the Supreme Court was convinced by Adams' plea to repudiate slavery in favor of the natural rights of man, thus taking a major step on the road to abolition.” By this, Foner is stating that the movie is not as historically accurate as it could have

The United States of America is known for its claims of democracy, equality, and freedom for all of it’s citizens. These claims are the foundation of America’s independence and essentially its entire history. But “claims” are simply all they were in history. While many achieved equal democracy and freedom, the African-American population of the US was exempt from these “inalienable rights” and heavily oppressed by society. The cruelty of slavery and oppression as a whole reached its peak in the 19th century bringing upon the abolitionist movement, which eventually aided in the historic removal of slavery and the continued fight for equal right of citizenship for African-Americans. Of the many abolitionists who fought for