Dred Scott, 1799 - 1858

Dred Scott was born enslaved in Southampton, Virginia, and was owned by Peter Blow before being sold to army doctor John Emerson. Emerson took Scott to the free states of Illinois and Wisconsin, where Scott married Harriet Robinson in 1836. They had two daughters and two sons, both of whom died in infancy. After returning to the slave state of Missouri, Scott tried in 1843 to buy his freedom from Emerson’s widow for $300, but she refused. In 1847 he sued for his freedom in Missouri courts, beginning a long series of trials in Missouri and federal courts that lasted until 1856 and reached the U.S. Supreme Court. By a 7-2 vote in an opinion written by Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney, the Court ruled that Scott, as a black man, was not a citizen and therefore had no rights of citizenship because the framers had not included any person of African descent within the original community covered by the Constitution. The decision also declared the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional. Scott’s fight for freedom was supported by the sons of Peter Blow. After the Supreme Court decision, ownership of Dred and Harriet Scott was transferred to Taylor Blow, who emancipated them on May 26, 1857. Dred Scott died on September 17, 1858, nine months after gaining his freedom, and Harriet Scott died in 1876.

Annapolis, Maryland · United States