Dred Scott Vs Sandford : A Negro Cannot Be Citizen Of USA
The objectivity and rationality of the highest Court can be sometimes be shadowed by social and cultural factors. This is proved from the case of Dred Scott vs Sandford (1857) wherein the Supreme Court held that negro cannot be citizen of USA.
what were facts of Dred Scott Vs Sandford ?
Slavery was permissible in USA till 1865 when slavery was abolished by 13th Amendment. During 1850s when this case was decided, northern states were slave free states while in southern states slavery was permissible. Missouri, where Dred Scott belonged to, was also a slave state. Dred Scott was slave to John Emerson – an Army Physician. He accompanied John Emerson to several slave free state and finally returned to Missouri. After death of Jonh Emerson, Dred Scott became slave of his wife. He attempted to purchase freedom from Emerson’s widow but was not successful. Emerson Widow gave control of estate to her brother John F A Sanford. Dred Scott filed suit for freedom from slavery. He won at the trial before the Circuit Court and was declared a free man. But trial court judgment was reversed by the Missouri Supreme Court. Dred Scott challenged it before the Federal Supreme Court.
What were the findings of the Supreme Court in Dred Scott Vs Sandford ?
The issue before the Supreme Court was whether a negro , who was sold like property, can be member of political community and become entitled to all of the rights , privileges and immunities . The Supreme Court held that black people can not be citizen of USA. The Supreme Court claimed that the Constitution did not intend to make black people part of American social and political community. Relevant Para reads as under:
We think that they are not included, and were not intended to be included, under the word “citizens” in the Constitution, and can therefore claim none of the rights and privileges which that instrument provides for and secures to citizens of the United States. On the contrary, they were at that time considered as a subordinate and inferior class of beings who had been subjugated by the dominant race, and, whether emancipated or not, yet remained subject to their authority and had no rights or privileges but such as those who held power and the Government might choose to grant them.
Dred Scott Vs Sandford
The court not only rejected Dred Scott case but also set aside Missouri Compromise. Missouri Compromise had freed black people who were living west of Missouri State and in northern parts. The Court declared that deprivation of slave property without following due process was in violation of Fifth Amendment. Dred Scott is probably the most criticized judgment of the Supreme Court of USA. But this abhorrent judgment proved to be blessing in disguise as it intensified civil rights movement leading to abolition of slavery by 13th Amendment of the Constitution in 1865.
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Mukesh Kumar Suman is an advocate and legal author based at Delhi. He regularly appears before various Judicial Forums including NCLT, NCLAT, High Courts and the Supreme Court. He can be approached at mukesh_suman@outlook.com or +91 9717864570.