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• Dred Scott Decision
  Dred Scott Decision

  noun

  ScottScott, Dred2
• Dred Scott decision
  Dred Scott decision

  A controversial ruling made by the Supreme Court in 1857, shortly before the outbreak of the Civil War. Dred Scott, a slave, sought to be declared a free man on the basis that he had lived for a time in a “free” territory with his master. The Court decided that, under the Constitution, Scott was his master's property and was not a citizen of the United States. The Court also declared that the Missouri Compromise, which prohibited slavery in certain areas, unconstitutionally deprived people of property — their slaves. The Dred Scott decision was a serious blow to abolitionists (see abolitionism).

Dred Scott Decision

American  

[dred] / ˌdrɛd ˈskɒt dɪˈsɪʒ ən /

noun

1. ScottScott, Dred2

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Dred Scott decision Cultural  

1. A controversial ruling made by the Supreme Court in 1857, shortly before the outbreak of the Civil War. Dred Scott, a slave, sought to be declared a free man on the basis that he had lived for a time in a “free” territory with his master. The Court decided that, under the Constitution, Scott was his master's property and was not a citizen of the United States. The Court also declared that the Missouri Compromise, which prohibited slavery in certain areas, unconstitutionally deprived people of property — their slaves. The Dred Scott decision was a serious blow to abolitionists (see abolitionism).

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Dred Scott Decision Dred Scott decision

Douglas, Stephen A., Senator: Lincoln's opposition to, xvi; attitude of, on the Dred Scott Decision, opposed by Lincoln, 42.

From The Poets' Lincoln Tributes in Verse to the Martyred President by Osborn H. (Osborn Hamiline) Oldroyd

By the irony of fate it was Chief Justice Taney of the Dred Scott Decision who inaugurated Lincoln into office, that Lincoln might later make Taney's decision forever null and void.

From The Battle of Principles A Study of the Heroism and Eloquence of the Anti-Slavery Conflict by Newell Dwight Hillis

I heard of the Dred Scott Decision, and thought J.P.

From Vandemark's Folly by Herbert Quick

The alienation of the Afro-American from his government was dramatically underscored and justified in 1857 by the Dred Scott Decision which was handed down by the Supreme Court.

From The Black Experience in America by Norman Coombs

When Mr. Douglas concluded to become a Presidential candidate, he broached a theory of constitutional interpretation for which he may have found some support in the Dred Scott Decision.

From Reminiscences of Sixty Years in Public Affairs, Vol. 2 by George S. Boutwell

The Supreme Court’s 1857 Dred Scott decision effectively removed all territorial restrictions on slavery.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 9, 2025

The most sweeping of the Reconstruction Amendments, the 14th Amendment overturned the Dred Scott decision, which held that Black Americans weren’t entitled to citizenship at birth.

From Salon ● Mar. 14, 2025

What emerged is the thrilling play “American Rot,” about the modern-day fictional meeting of descendants on both sides of the Dred Scott decision in a diner off the New Jersey Turnpike.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 18, 2024

Supreme Court’s Dred Scott decision and a 1954 copy of its Brown vs.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 7, 2023

You cite the Dred Scott decision of the Supreme Court as establishing slavery in the territories.

From The Negro and the Nation A History of American Slavery and Enfranchisement by George Spring Merriam

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