Question

What made the Dred Scott case a significant one in American history?

Answers

1. The case forced the Supreme Court to accept that the intent of the framers of the Constitution is irrelevant to the implementation of a law in the present day.

2. The case led to the election of Abraham Lincoln, who was one of the lawyers who represented Dred Scott before the Supreme Court.

3. The case challenged the legality of importing enslaved people from Africa or the Caribbean and eventually ended the slave trade in America.

4. The case resulted in the Supreme Court denying that African Americans could be citizens and added to the sectional tensions that eventually led to the Civil War.

Answer 1

4. The case resulted in the Supreme Court denying that African Americans could be citizens and added to the sectional tensions that eventually led to the Civil War.

The Dred Scott v. Sandford case is significant in American history because it further entrenched the idea that African Americans, whether enslaved or free, could not be considered citizens of the United States. The Supreme Court's ruling intensified sectional tensions between the North and the South over the issue of slavery, contributing to the broader context that eventually led to the outbreak of the Civil War.