Did the dred Scott case keep slaves as property?

Answer 1

Records seem to indicate that Dred Scott was born into slavery in Virginia and lived there until he was in his early 20s, when he moved to Huntsville, Alabama, the Peter Blow family, and five other slaves sometime in the 1820s. Scott relocated to St. Louis, Missouri with the Blow family in 1930, then was sold to Dr. Emerson, an Army surgeon, sometime between 1831 and 1833.

Emerson and Scott were transferred between several Southern and Midwest military posts during their time together. On December 1, 1833, the two men relocated to Fort Armstrong, in Rock Island, Illinois, which adhered to the rules of the Northwest Ordinance prohibiting slavery, and was a free state. Scott's status as slave should have ended when he entered Illinois; however, it is not clear that Scott was aware of this law.

In May 1836, Scott traveled with Dr. Emerson to Fort Snelling, in what was then part of the Wisconsin Territory (today, Ft. Snelling is part of Minnesota), which also prohibited slavery.

While at Ft. Snellling, Dred Scott met Harriet Robinson, a slave Dr. Emerson acquired from a Major Taliaferro, and the two married in late 1836 or early 1837.

Dr. Emerson was reassigned to St. Louis, Missouri, in October 1837, but was forced to leave Dred and Harriet in the hire of others at Ft. Snelling because weather conditions were too poor for the three of them to travel safely. As soon as Emerson arrived in St. Louis, he was reassigned to Louisiana, where he met and married his wife, Irene Sanford.

In 1838, the Scott family voluntarily left Ft. Snelling to reunite with the Emersons in Louisiana, a slave state. After spending a few more months in Louisiana, the four returned to Fort Snelling in the Wisconsin Territory.

On May 29, 1840, Dr. Emerson was assigned to Florida to care for troops fighting in the Seminole War. Due to the dangerous conditions, he left his wife Irene and the Scotts in the care of Irene's father, Alexander Sanford, in St. Louis, Missouri.

Dr. Emerson was discharged from the military in 1842 and returned to St. Louis to start a private medical practice. Unable to succeed in St. Louis, Emerson relocated to Iowa. It is not clear whether the Scotts accompanied him to Iowa or remained in St. Louis; however, they were in St. Louis after Dr. Emerson died in 1843, where they remained for the rest of their lives.

Answer 2

Yes. The Chief Justice interpreted the Constitution as he judged that the Founding Fathers had meant it.

When they declared that a man's property was sacred, they would have included slaves in their definition of property.