Answer: The Dred Scott Supreme Court decision decreed that African American slaves were not full citizens of America, which allowed for mistreatment of slaves and segregation and racism for a long time far into the future.
The Dred Scott Decision outraged abolitionists, who saw the Supreme Court's ruling as a way to stop debate about slavery in the territories. The divide between North and South over slavery grew and culminated in the secession of southern states from the Union and the creation of the Confederate States of America.
