Report of the Decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, and the Opinions of the Judges Thereof, in the Case of Dred Scott versus John F. A. Sandford

In the 1850s a man named Dred Scott became the focal point of a fierce legal dispute over his status as a slave. After a lower‑court ruling granted him freedom, his former owner appealed, insisting that Scott, as a person of African descent, was not a citizen of Missouri and thus could not sue in federal court. The case climbed through the state system and reached the United States Supreme Court.

The plaintiff argued that years spent in free territories, such as Illinois and the Wisconsin Territory, should have liberated him, while the defense claimed he remained property and that the court lacked jurisdiction over a non‑citizen. The justices examined constitutional definitions of citizenship and the limits of federal power, ultimately concluding that people of African ancestry were not entitled to citizenship rights. This decision inflamed national tensions and foreshadowed the looming conflict that would soon erupt into civil war.