The unanimous decision regarding the Dred Scott case was that he was not a citizen. Rather, no African Americans are citizens. The case was not cut and dry rather long and drawn out. Dred Scott fought for years for his freedom but was denied by the Supreme Court.
Scott filed a lawsuit against the Missouri state court in April of 1846. He had said that Dr.John Emerson was a doctor that traveled in territories such as Wisconsin and other territories where slaves were not allowed. But, when the decision was filed the Emersons and Scott lived in Missouri where slavery was legal.
The two main arguments in the case were that Scott was not a citizen of Missouri because he was a slave and not allowed to even create a lawsuit. Also, even if he was free in Illinois and Wisconsin, Missouri was a slave state.
Dred Scott was a catalyst in how America was divided. He also shed light on how unfair the system was for African Americans. "In 2007, Lynette Jackson, Scott’s great-great-granddaughter, told NPR on the 150th anniversary of the decision that the lesson from the case is that people should try to do what is right.“Even if it doesn't look like it's going to work out, in the end, it usually does,” she said."
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