The case of Dred Scott v. Sandford was a judicial claim, crucial in the history of the United States, resolved by the Supreme Court in 1857, in which it was decided to deprive any inhabitant of African descent, whether slaves or not, the right to citizenship; and the authority to prohibit slavery in federal territories of the country was removed from Congress. The decision was drafted by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney.
On March 6, 1857, Chief Justice Roger B. Taney issued the majority opinion. Taney ruled that:
-Anyone of African descent, whether slave or free, was not a citizen of the United States, according to the Constitution.
-The Ordinance of 1787 could not confer neither freedom nor citizenship within the Northwest Territory to non-white individuals.
-The provisions of the Missouri Compromise were annulled as a legislative act, since the act exceeded the powers of Congress, as it tried to exclude slavery and impart liberty and citizenship to non-white people in the north part of the Louisiana territory.
The court ruled that African-Americans had no right to freedom or citizenship. As they were not citizens, they did not have the legal capacity to file a lawsuit in federal court. Because slaves were private property, Congress did not have the power to regulate slavery in the territories and could not revoke the rights of a slave owner according to the place where he lived. This decision nullified the essence of the Missouri Compromise, which divided the territories into free or slave jurisdictions. Speaking on behalf of the majority, Taney ruled that because Scott simply considered himself the private property of his owners, he was subject to the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which prohibits taking ownership of his owner "without due process."
