In the case of Scott v. Sanford, also known as the Dred Scott Decision, the Supreme Court ruled that Congress had acted outside its power in the decision to pass the Missouri Compromise banning slavery in new territories and that blacks were not considered when writing the Consitution and therefore did not have its protection as an American citizen. The ruling was interpreted as the Supreme Court's support of slavery and its continuation and caused turmoil between abolitionists and Southern slaveholders.