Dred Scott v. Sandford : a brief history with documents / Paul Finkelman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Finkelman, Paul, 1949- author.

Series:

Bedford series in history and culture

The Bedford series in history and culture

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Scott, Dred, 1809-1858--Trials, litigation, etc.

Scott, Dred.

Sanford, John F. A., 1806 or 1807-1857--Trials, litigation, etc.

Sanford, John F. A.

Sanford, John F. A., 1806 or 1807-1857.

Scott, Dred, 1809-1858.

Slavery--Law and legislation--United States--History.

Slavery.

Slavery--Law and legislation.

United States.

History.

Missouri compromise.

Physical Description:

xv, 238 pages : illustrations, maps ; 21 cm.

Edition:

Second edition.

Place of Publication:

Boston, MA : Bedford/St. Martins, [2017]

Summary:

Perhaps no other Supreme Court decision has had the political impact of Dred Scott v. Sandford. Using a variety of documents that reflect regional opinions and political debates, Paul Finkelman examines the 1857 decision that helped set in motion the events that eventually led to a new birth of freedom and the abolition of slavery in the United States. A revised Introduction reveals new understandings of the case and recently discovered evidence about Dred Scott, his wife Harriet, his owners, his lawyers, and the history of freedom suits in Missouri. New text sources include President James Buchanan's inaugural address and the post-Civil War Amendments, which collectively reversed the major holdings in Dred Scott. This new edition also contains Questions for Consideration, an updated Selected Bibliography, and a Chronology of Events Related to Dred Scott. Book jacket.

Contents:

Part 1 Introduction: The Dred Scott Case, Slavery, and the Politics of Law 1

An Overview of the Dred Scott Case 2

A Bad Decision 4

A Complex and Confused Case 6

Slavery in the Territories 8

Who Was Dred Scott? 12

Dred Scott Sues for Freedom 17

In the Federal Court 19

The Jurisdictional Issue and the Plea in Abatement 20

The Case in the Federal District Court 21

Before the Supreme Court 22

The Justices 24

The Compromise Not Taken 27

The Jurisdictional Question 29

Free Blacks under Taney's Constitution: "They Had No Rights" 30

The Status of Slavery in the Territories under Dred Scott 33

The Territories Clause 34

The Fifth Amendment 35

Law as Politics 38

The Politics of Law 39

The Republican Fear of a Conspiracy 40

The Nationalization of Slavery 41

The Democratic Response 43

Epilogue: Part I 44

Epilogue: Part II-Reversing Dred Scott 47

Part 2 The Documents 55

1 Opinions of the Justices 55

1 Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney, Opinion of the Court in Dred Scott, Plaintiff in Error v. John F. A. Sandforol, March 6, 1857 56

2 Justice James M. Wayne, Concurring Opinion, March 6, 1857 76

3 Justice Samuel Nelson, Concurring Opinion, March 6, 1857 78

4 Justice Robert Cooper Grier, Concurring Opinion, March 6, 1857 84

5 Justice Peter Vivian Daniel, Concurring Opinion, March 6, 1857 85

6 Justice John Archibald Campbell, Concurring Opinion, March 6, 1857 90

7 Justice John Catron, Concurring Opinion, March 6, 1857 94

8 Justice John McLean, Dissenting Opinion, March 6, 1857 98

9 Justice Benjamin Robbins Curtis, Dissenting Opinion, March 6, 1857 106

2 Newspaper Response to the Dred Scott Decision 125

Varieties of Southern Proslavery Opinion 125

10 Enquirer (Richmond), The Dred Scott Case, March 10, 1857 127

11 Mercury (Charleston), The Dred Scott Case-Supreme Court on the Rights of the South, April 2, 1857 129

12 Daily Picayune (New Orleans), Citizenship, March 21, 1857 131

The Buchanan Administration's Paper Endorses the Decision 132

13 Union (Washington, D.C.), The Dred Scott Case, March 12, 1857 132

Northern Support for the Dred Scott Decision 135

14 Journal of Commerce (New York), The Decision of the Supreme Court, March 11, 1857 136

15 Journal of Commerce (New York), The Dred Scott Case, March 12, 1857 137

16 Post (Pittsburgh), Seeking an Issue, March 17, 1857 139

Opposition to the Dred Scott Decision: A Spectrum of Northern Opinion 140

17 Tribune (New York), Editorial, March 7, 1857 141

18 Daily Times (New York), The Slavery Question - The Decision of the Supreme Court, March 9,1857 142

19 Evening Post (New York), The Supreme Court of the United States, March 7, 1857 143

20 Independent (New York), Wickedness of the Decision in the Supreme Court against the African Race, March 19, 1857 145

21 Register (Salem), The U.S. Supreme Court, March 12, 1857 148

Lincoln's Paper Responds 149

22 Tribune (Chicago), Who Are Negroes?, March 12, 1857 149

23 Tribune (Chicago), The Dred Scott Case, March 17, 1857 150

A War for Public Opinion: The Washington Union and the New York Tribune 150

24 Union (Washington, D.C.), Unreasonable Complaints, March 21, 1857 151

25 Tribune (New York), Judge Taney's Opinion, March 21, 1857 154

26 Tribune (New York), Editorial, March 21, 1857 156

27 Tribune (New York), Editorial, March 25, 1857 158

28 Union (Washington, D.C.), The Supreme Court and the New York Tribune, March 28, 1857 159

3 Political Debate in the North 161

29 President James Buchanan, Inaugural Address, March 4, 1857 163

30 Frederick Douglass, The Dred Scott Decision: Speech at New York, on the Occasion of the Anniversary of the American Abolition Society, May 11, 1857 166

Lincoln-Douglas Debates and the Dred Scott Decision 178

31 Abraham Lincoln, The "House Divided" Speech at Springfield, Illinois, June 16, 1858 181

32 Stephen A. Douglas, Speech at Chicago, Elinois, July 9, 1858 191

33 Abraham Lincoln, Speech at Chicago, Illinois, July 10, 1858 197

34 Stephen A. Douglas, Speech at Springfield, Illinois, July 17, 1858 200

35 The Debate at Freeport: Lincoln's Questions and Douglas's Answers, August 27, 1858 208

36 The Debate at Jonesboro, September 15, 1858 210

Congressional Debate 215

37 Congressional Globe, Bust of Chief Justice Taney, February 23, 1865 216

4 Reversing Dred Scott: Formal Constitutional Change 222

38 The Thirteenth Amendment, 1865 223

39 The Fourteenth Amendment, 1868 223

40 The Fifteenth Amendment, 1870 224.

Notes:

Previous edition: 1997.

Includes bibliography (pages 231-232) and index.

ISBN:

9781319048983

1319048986

OCLC:

952980556

Publisher Number:

99969470203