Dred Scott is a name that has come down to us through history. As an enslaved person brought, with his wife and two daughters, from Missouri (a state where slavery was legal) to Illinois (where slavery was illegal) he brought a lawsuit against his enslavers which eventually reached the United States Supreme Court in Dred Scott v. Sandford.
Rather than concentrate solely on the merits of the case, the Supreme Court determined that, as a black man, Scott was not a citizen and, therefore, had no rights under the constitution to bring a lawsuit. Chief Justice Roger Taney writing the 6-2 majority opinion included the observation that the people of African descent “are not included, and were not intended to be included, under the word ‘citizens’ in the Constitution, and can therefore claim none of the rights and privileges which that instrument provides for and secures to citizens of the United States.”
Chief Justice Roger Taney further clarified that they “had for more than a century before been regarded as beings of an inferior order, and altogether unfit to associate with the white race, either in social or political relations; and so far inferior, that they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect; and that the negro might justly and lawfully be reduced to slavery for his benefit.”
Essentially, as History.com states, “the nation’s top court ruled that living in a free state and territory did not entitle Dred Scott to his freedom because, as an enslaved man, he was not a citizen, but essentially another person’s property. The court’s decision incensed abolitionists, gave momentum to the anti-slavery movement and served as a stepping stone to the Civil War.”
Eventually, Dred Scott would receive his freedom in May of 1857. Unfortunately, Scott would die of tuberculosis the following year. The decision of Scott v. Sandford, considered by many legal scholars to be the worst ever rendered by the Supreme Court, was overturned by the 13th and 14th amendments to the Constitution, which abolished slavery and declared all persons born in the United States to be citizens of the United States.
Here in New York, we had our own version of Dred Scott’s case years earlier – in the now-famous Lemmon Slave Case. In 1852, eight members of two enslaved families (including six children) – nicknamed The Eight, had been brought from their home in Virginia (where slavery was legal) to or through New York. With a gradual end to slavery beginning as early as 1799, New York legislation outlawing the practice was passed in 1817 (which, by design, would become fully effective in 1827.) An 1841 law specifically prohibited slaveholders from bringing slaves in transit to New York, liberating any slaves so brought. It seems fairly straightforward. So why would it take the rest of the decade for this case to be resolved? And which way would it go?
The trials were a virtual who’s-who in New York State litigation – with John Jay representing the State of New York and future President Chester A. Arthur representing the State upon the Lemmons’ subsequent appeal. Was this a simple case that fell under New York State law – which stated that any slave passing through New York would immediately become free? Or was this a matter of the transport of property, under Federal interstate commerce laws, which allowed slaves to be taken through New York and even to be kept there briefly as cargo? Or did it fall somewhere in between?
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Appellate Court Justice Albert Rosenblatt (Retired)
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Join the Lincoln Depot Museum, as special guest presenter and author of The Eight: The Lemmon Slave Case and the Fight for Freedom, Appellate Court Justice Albert Rosenblatt (Ret.) discusses more about New York’s famous Lemmon Slave Case, how it came about, how the cases developed and were presented, and what the ultimate resolution was. Nothing is ever as simple as it seems – or perhaps how it should be…
The event will take place on Saturday August 3, 2024 at 2:00 pm. Admission: is $10 adults ($5 seniors/veterans/children, $20 families) and free Admission for Museum Members.
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