How does the Dred Scott case fit into the causes of the US Civil War?

Answer 1

It was a very important case that polarized the nation. Dred Scott was a slave who sued for his freedom because his owner, an army doctor, had moved with him from a slave state to a free state. Because he now lived in a state that did not have slavery, he believed he should be set free. But the Supreme Court, the majority of whose judges favored slavery, disagreed. They ruled in 1857 that Dred Scott was still a slave no matter where his owner lived, since the Constitution had not established that black people were full citizens. Under the law of that time, Dred Scott was considered the property of his owner, and as such, he had no right to freedom. This decision infuriated residents of free states, and it was also offensive to the abolitionist movement. The Dred Scott decision became one of a number of incidents that led to the Civil War.

Answer 2

There is no clear connection between the US Civil War and the US Supreme Court's Dred Scott case. The South seceded when slavery had been in 1857 been declared constitutional. The South believed it was being marginalized as free Northern states would dominate the US government.