Dred Scott Decision

• Tensions between the North and South had been rising for over a decade since the Nullification Crisis.
• The Missouri and Kansas territories became testing grounds for the peace.
• Many Northerners believed the South intended to expand slavery.

Dred Scott Decision

• The Dred Scott decision negatively impacted free blacks, abolitionists, and moral crusaders.
• Dr. John Emerson, an army surgeon, took his slave Dred Scott to Illinois and the Wisconsin Territory.
• Scott sued for freedom in Missouri after Emerson's death in 1846, arguing residence in free territories.
• The case raised questions about Congress's power to outlaw slavery in territories.
• Scott was sold to John Sanford, leading to a refiling of the case.
• The Supreme Court heard the case on March 6, 1857, over ten years after the original lawsuit.
• The court ruled that blacks, free or slave, were not citizens and had no right to sue in federal court.
• The court stated the federal government could not deprive a person of property without due process.
• The court viewed Dr. Emerson as the aggrieved party, as he was deprived of his property (slaves).
• The Supreme Court declared that slavery was inviolate in territories until they became states.
• The decision made slavery a nationwide right that could only be abolished by states.
• Northern critics felt it ironic that the Bill of Rights was used to keep blacks enslaved.
• The decision implied slavery could extend to the Pacific Ocean.
• The Dred Scott decision convinced many in the North that political solutions to slavery were impossible.

James Buchanan's Presidency

• James Buchanan urged the nation to respect the Supreme Court's decision on Dred Scott.
• Buchanan's stance is viewed as a misstep and contributes to his low ranking among historians.
• Buchanan served as a congressman, secretary of state, and minister to Great Britain.
• Buchanan's distance from domestic issues made him insensitive and out of touch.
• Buchanan believed slavery was a matter for individual states to decide.
• Buchanan's stance won him Southern support.
• Buchanan defeated John C. Fremont in the 1856 election, who opposed slavery in the territories.
• Buchanan backed the Dred Scott decision as president.
• Republicans became exclusively anti-slavery.
• Democrats became pro-slavery and pro-states' rights.
• Buchanan wanted Kansas admitted to the Union as a slave state to appease the South.
• Senator Stephen A. Douglas demanded a popular vote in Kansas, weakening the Democratic Party.

A Splintering Nation

• Abolitionist John Brown seized Harpers Ferry, VA, in 1859 in an attempt to start a slave revolt.
• Brown's actions further divided the North and South.
• The Democratic Party split before the election of 1860 with Northern and Southern halves.
• Abraham Lincoln won the presidency.
• Southern politicians began to secede.
• South Carolina seceded in December 1860.
• Buchanan ordered the resupply of Ft. Sumter.
• South Carolina's militia fired on the resupply ship on January 9, 1861.
• The American Civil War began on April 12, 1861.
• Buchanan failed to prevent the nation from falling apart.