Dred Scott

I missed an anniversary of sorts last week. March 6^th was the 150^th anniversary of the Dred Scott ruling by the Supreme Court. Probably the most shameful chapter in American judicial history. I can’t help but believe the ruling had an effect on the abolitionist movement. If any bright side can be found it’s that the issue of slavery was settled once and for all a few years later, even if at a terrible price. Two ideas come to mind when I consider this ruling. The first is one of my favorite sayings: Antiquity does not bequeath virtue. Second, the nine folks in black robes that embody the judicial branch of our government aren’t always right. Miranda v Arizona comes to mind as further evidence of that, in my very biased opinion.

Still, it’s impressive when you view it from the reverse. Scott was returned to Dr. Emerson’s widow. She had remarried and her new husband was opposed to slavery. He released Scott to the family that originally owned him, who in turn granted him his freedom. Moral of that story? A couple of somewhat average citizens understood what the greatest constitutional scholars of the time didn’t. That we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. A man effectively lynched at the hands of the US Government died a free man at the hands of his fellow man.

Ares