Ocean State Libraries

Shelia P. Moses is a National Book Award Finalist who has brought to life the story of Dred Scott, a man born into slavery in the 1700s. In 1846, Dred Scott and his wife, Harriet, filed a lawsuit for their freedom. After 11 years of debate, the case was settled in the U.S. Supreme Court, which issued a decision declaring that Scott and his wife remain slaves. The controversy surrounding this case contributed to the already high tensions in the country...

Learn about this crucial Supreme Court case.

The US Supreme Court is the head of the judicial branch of the federal government. It is the highest court in the land, with thousands of cases appealed to it every year. One of those history-making cases was Dred Scott v. Sanford, which addressed slavery and freedom before the Civil War. Readers will follow this case from beginning to end, including the social and political climates that led up to it and the effects it had after the court made...

The constitutional legacy of the Dred Scott case has been long lasting. What started as a freedom suit filed by Dred Scott and his wife in the St. Louis Circuit Court in 1846, erupted into a U.S. Supreme Court case that ended in 1857. Read about the case details and political consequences surrounding one of the most infamous court decisions of our time. Also includes a timeline of important dates.

Details the various trials of the Dred Scott case and discusses its impact on the issue of slave rights in the context of United States politics and the Civil War.