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Dred Scott v. Sandford decided by the U.S. Supreme Court

When
1857
Where
Supreme Court Building
Episodes
1

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Dred Scott v. Sandford that Black people were not citizens and could not sue for freedom. Chief Justice Taney's majority opinion, issued March 6, 1857, denied Scott's claim based on his return to Missouri. The decision, widely criticized for its racism, stood until the 14th Amendment was adopted in 1868.

Episodes

  1. March 6, 1857 · Supreme Court BuildingSupreme Court Decision

    The Supreme Court ruled against Dred Scott, denying his freedom and declaring Black people non-citizens.

Background and detail

The Decision. On March 6, 1857, the Court issued a 7–2 decision against Scott. Chief Justice Taney wrote the majority opinion, holding that the Constitution did not extend citizenship to people of black African descent. Consequently, they could not enjoy rights conferred on citizens, nor sue for freedom. The ruling was widely denounced for its overt racism and poor legal reasoning.

People involved

Sources

  1. Dred Scott v. Sandford Wikipedia, revision of 2026-10-02
  2. Roger B. Taney Wikipedia, revision of 2026-10-05
  3. Dred Scott Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-04

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.