Files
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Document Type
Text
Contributing Institution
Maine State Archives
Identifier
37278-F112
Broad Creation Date
1857
Language
English
Location
Kennebec County; Augusta
Disciplines
Constitutional Law | History | Political History | United States History
Recommended Citation
Maine Legislature, "1857 Documents Related to the Dred Scott Decision" (2017). 1764-1865. 15.
https://digitalmaine.com/early_aa_history_me/15
Rights Statement
No Copyright - United States. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/
The organization that has made the Item available believes that the Item is in the Public Domain under the laws of the United States, but a determination was not made as to its copyright status under the copyright laws of other countries. The Item may not be in the Public Domain under the laws of other countries. Please refer to the organization that has made the Item available for more information.
Description
Response of the Maine Legislature to the Supreme Court decision in the case of Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. 393.
The court held that Scott was not free because being black he was not considered a person under the U.S. Constitution, declaring that no slave or descendant of a slave could be a U.S. citizen. As a non-citizen, the court stated, Scott had no rights and could not sue in a Federal Court and must remain a slave. In addition, this decision declared that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional and that Congress did not have the authority to prohibit slavery in the territories. The Dred Scott decision was overturned by the 13th and 14th Amendments to the Constitution.