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Dred Scott

In this position paper I will explain the trials that Dred Scott

had to go through in his life in his attempts for justice to be served.  

Dred Scott was born in 1799, and was an illiterate slave.   His parents

were slaves and so he was born the property of the Peter Blow

family.   In 1804 The United States took possession
of Missouri and

after many debates on whether or not it would be a slavery state, a

resolution known as the Missouri Compromise came along.   This

made a balance in the number of free and slave states, the problem

was that Missouri was located right in the middle of what was the

freedom and slavery.


In 1830, the Blow family moved to St. Louis and then ran into

some financial problems, which made them sell Dred Scott to Dr.

John Emerson.   Emerson was a military surgeon stationed just south

of St. Louis in Jefferson Barracks.   For twelve years Dred Scott had to

go with Emerson to different posts in Illinois and the Wisconsin

territory where slavery was prohibited due to the Missouri

Compromise.   Also during this time Dred Scott married a woman by

the name of Harriet Robinson, who was also a slave, and they had

two children.   In 1842, Dr. Emerson and his wife Irene moved back to

St. Louis and Dred Scott and his family had to follow.   Just a year

later John Emerson died, so Mrs. Emerson hired out the Scott family

to work for other families in St. Louis.   Then, on April 6, 1846, Dred

Scott filed a law suit against Irene Emerson.   Scott was suing for the

nine years that he had been in free territories.   In these nine years

he never made an attempt to get his freedom and it is not known

why he waited until this specific time, there are only three

possibilities that are considered though.   One possibility is that he

was tired of being hired out.   Another possibility is that he was

possibly on the verge of getting sold to another owner.   The...