The Dred Scott Decision and the Civil War

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The Dred Scott Decision and the Civil War

No major justice case in American history was more infamous than Dred Scott's case in 1857, which was described by Abraham Lincoln as " in part, based on assumed historical facts which were not really true (Lincoln, 1857)." The case has also established its political, legal, and historical significance among the scholars, who believe it to be one of the major triggering factors of the Civil War. In the Dred Scott Decision, the Supreme Court ruled through Chief Justice Roger B. Taney that black slaves were not American citizens and declared The Missouri Compromise of 1820, which limited the expansion of slavery, to be unconstitutional. It further ruled that the Congress did not have the right to interfere on the slavery issues in federal territory (Vander Velde, 2015). Therefore, this case has upheld the permanent status of slavery in the U.S. system from a constitutional standpoint, further intensifying the already sharp North-South conflict. The Dred Scott Decision was the point when the Civil War became inevitable, because it broke the north-south political balance, intensified the ideological differences, and blocked any path of further compromise.

The Dred Scott Decision broke the balance between two competing forces in the country. By 1819, the United States had 22 states, half of which were free and half supporting slavery, which maintained a balance of power in the Senate. But in February 1819, the balance was broken when Missouri proposed to join the federation as a slavery state. The potential imbalance caused became a major dilemma in the North-South dispute and triggered a constitutional crisis (Mason, 2013). But just at this time, the Maine region of the Massachusetts proposed an independent request to join the federation as well, a turning point in resolving the dispute between North and South. In March 1820, the two sides reached a compromise: Congress accepted that Maine and Missouri join the Commonwealth as a free state and a slavery state, respectively (Mason, 2013). To prevent the recurrence of a similar crisis, a decision was made to set a line on 36 ° 30'N as the boundary of legal and illegal slavery. This is "The Missouri Compromise" in 1820 (Mason, 2013). However, the Dred Scott Decision apparently contradicted "The Missouri Compromise" because the latter is an important legal basis for Scott's freedom. As a result, the political balance was broken when Taney ruled in favor of the legitimacy of slavery, making it more likely for the two sides to resolve their differences through war.

Scott’s case also provoked an intensified debate between the two sides on slavery. The public from both sides responded quickly and strongly to the verdict, as countless social influencers such as lawyers, politicians, newspaper editors and preachers eagerly expressed their opinions on various occasions (Vander Velde, 2015). In the south, the judgment of the Supreme Court was believed to uphold the constitutional rights in the south and justify slavery. However, the North always held that slavery is only a regional system and should not expand indefinitely into the federal territory and the other states. As Lincoln and Douglass repeatedly argued during the debate, he did not deny the Supreme Court's decision on Scott's citizenship, but he did not favor the tendency of the Supreme Court to nationalize and perpetuate slavery at all (Morel, 2007). According to Lincoln, it was unrealistic for the United States to remain in the semi-slavery forever. Taney's ruling, in fact, declared that slavery can expand and spread without any restrictions. That made slavery a nationwide system, while freedom a regional one. This fueled the anger of the Northerners and contributed to the ideological and political divide in the country.

Another outcome of the case is that it blocked the legal channels for the federal government to solve the problem of slavery. In United States, the Supreme Court's ruling is the final verdict, and neither the president nor the parliament can revert its decision. For the Republicans, to change the Supreme Court's ruling, the only way was to substitute the members of the Supreme Court judges and use them to veto Taney’s ruling. To do this, the Republicans must win the presidential election of 1860 and reorganize the Supreme Court through the constitutional power of the President to appoint the Supreme Court Justice. This challenged and threatened the favorable position of the south, so it announced early in the election that if Lincoln should win, it would leave the Union (Earle, 2011). In 1860, the Republican Party won the presidential election. Despite Lincoln's moderate attitude and repeated assurances that the Republican government will never intervene in the issue of slavery in the south, the southern political forces still believed that Republicans will overturn the Scott decision right after they came to power. As a result of the considerations and fears from the south, the southern states announced their withdrawal from the federal government since November 1860 (Earle, 2011). In order to preserve the unification of the federation, Lincoln decided to confront the South with force.

In conclusion, the Dred Scott Decision in 1857 completely broke the carefully maintained balance and compromise between the north and the south. The past federations have been using the temporary political concessions to compromise contradictions. However, the Dred Scott Decision made these efforts meaningless with the confirmation of slavery legitimacy. Combined with the win of Lincoln and the rebuttal of The Missouri Compromise, civil war finally became an inevitable solution to keep the country from falling apart. Supreme Court tried to solve the divide through the case. However, it not only failed to resolve the crisis, but instead led the United States to the path of separation.

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