Dred Scott: Classifying Arguments

The Missouri Compromise of 1820 outlawed slavery forever in certain areas. Dred Scott's owner took him to these free areas.  Thus, Scott became free forever.

• Dred Scott
• John Sanford
• Both sides
• Neither side

Dred Scott is not a citizen because if he were he would be entitled to all of the privileges and immunities of a citizen, one of which is the right of free movement.  It is clear that the laws governing slavery do not permit this, thus he cannot be a citizen.

• Dred Scott
• John Sanford
• Both sides
• Neither side

Even before the Constitution, some states allowed blacks to vote.  The Constitution does not say explicitly that blacks cannot be citizens.

• Dred Scott
• John Sanford
• Both sides
• Neither side

The U.S. Constitution is the supreme law of the land.  Neither Congress nor states can pass laws that conflict with the Constitution.

• Dred Scott
• John Sanford
• Both sides
• Neither side

It was law in many states and had been common law in Europe for centuries that a slave who legally traveled to a free area automatically became free.

• Dred Scott
• John Sanford
• Both sides
• Neither side

In the case of Strader v. Graham (1850), the Supreme Court of the United States heard the case of three slaves who had been taken from Kentucky to Indiana and Ohio and then back to Kentucky.  The Court declared that the status of the slave depended on the laws of Kentucky, not Ohio.

• Dred Scott
• John Sanford
• Both sides
• Neither side

In 1865, the states ratified the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution making slavery illegal.

• Dred Scott
• John Sanford
• Both sides
• Neither side

The Constitution recognized the existence of slavery.  Therefore, the men who framed and ratified the Constitution must have believed that slaves and their descendants were not to be citizens.

• Dred Scott
• John Sanford
• Both sides
• Neither side

The Missouri Compromise of 1820 that outlawed slavery in some future states was unconstitutional because Congress does not have the authority to deny property rights of law abiding citizens.  Thus, Scott was always a slave in areas that were free.

• Dred Scott
• John Sanford
• Both sides
• Neither side

At the time of the Dred Scott case, women and minors could sue in federal court even though they could not vote.

• Dred Scott
• John Sanford
• Both sides
• Neither side