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The American justice system has been fucking over Black people since its inception. A prominent example of this is the Dred Scott decision.
--On This Day in History, Shit Went Down: March 6, 1857--
Dred Scott was a Black man born into enslavement around 1799 in Virginia. “Born into enslavement.” From your first breath the legal system viewed you as property. Your “owner” could do with you as they pleased, even kill you, and face no repercussions. You were not a person; you were a thing.
When Scott was in his 30s, he was sold to an army doctor who moved around a lot. In the late 1830s Scott and his new wife Harriet lived with their enslaver for four years in Illinois and the Wisconsin territory, both of which forbade slavery. Then back to Missouri, a slave state. In 1843 his enslaver died, and Scott and his family—the couple had two daughters—became the property of the doctor’s widow, who leased them out to profit from their forced labor. But Dred was able to earn some money and in 1846 offered to buy his freedom from the widow. She said get fucked I own ya.
But Scott said no you get fucked and with legal help from local abolitionists he sued her in Missouri state court for their freedom, saying that because they had spent time in free states that meant they were legally free. Interestingly, the daughter of his previous enslaver supported Scott’s efforts and offered both moral and financial support in his legal battle.
But the legal battle was for naught. The Missouri court said get fucked. It was expected the Scotts would win, but they lost on a technicality. Apparently, they couldn’t prove the doctor’s widow was actually their enslaver, which was some bullshit. But they were granted a new trial which didn’t take place until 1850. During the intervening four years they were in the custody of the St. Louis County Sheriff and leased out as labor. The money was held in escrow and would go to whoever won the case. The 1850 trial showed that yeah the widow was the owner and ruled in favor of the Scotts. The widow said fuck no I wanna keep them and get that escrow money, and she appealed to the Missouri Supreme Court who said if you wanted to be free you should have sued when you were in a free state, but you’re in Missouri now so eat shit.
The widow had transferred ownership to her brother, John Sanford. The suit ended up before the U.S. Supreme Court, with the erroneous spelling of Dred Scott v. Sandford. That wasn’t the only mistake made. On March 6, 1857, in a 7—2 decision, the Supreme Court said Black people aren’t citizens no freedom for you. But the widow had married an abolitionist member of Congress, Calvin Chaffee. The case was national news, and Chaffee was being called a hypocrite, so he arranged for the Scotts’ freedom. Dred Scott lived 16 months as a free man, dying of tuberculosis in 1858.
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