USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Sandford, 60 U.S. 393 (1856) In a decision that later was nullified by the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments, the Supreme Court held that former slaves did not have standing in federal courts because they lacked U.S. citizenship, even after they were freed.

Detailed explanation-2: -Missouri’s Dred Scott Case, 1846-1857. In its 1857 decision that stunned the nation, the United States Supreme Court upheld slavery in United States territories, denied the legality of black citizenship in America, and declared the Missouri Compromise to be unconstitutional.

Detailed explanation-3: -Taney read the majority opinion of the Court, which stated that enslaved people were not citizens of the United States and, therefore, could not expect any protection from the federal government or the courts. The opinion also stated that Congress had no authority to ban slavery from a federal territory.

Detailed explanation-4: -Dred Scott, an enslaved African American, had resided in slave states (Virginia and Missouri) as well as in a free state (Illinois) and a free territory (the Wisconsin Territory). He ultimately sued for his freedom on the grounds that his residence on free soil had liberated him from the bonds of slavery.