IRONIES OF DRED AND HARRIET SCOTT
Life is fraught with irony.
It was ironic that Dred Scott lost.
Previous freedom suits in St. Louis with slaves as plaintiffs, who had prevailed in jury trials by using the same "freedom by residence" theory as Scott, had won. But not Scott. Newly elected judges of the Missouri Supreme Court, rather than the old system of appointed judges, reversed the "freedom by residence" prior precedent of its own court, taking away Scott 's victory. He sued in federal court. It became a blot on American history.
The reversal of victory was ironic, to be sure , but did not end there. After the United States Supreme Court 's 1857 defeat of Scott and of all blacks, whether slave or free:
"[John F.A.] Sanford triumphed, though he had gone mad, was confined to a sanitarium, and may never have realized his victory, if he even cared. The decision led to the embarrassment of Mrs. Emerson-Chaffee and Calvin Chaffee, her new husband , seated in Congress as a Free Soil Republican from Massachusetts. The national press discovered that the most famous slave in America was owned by a Massachusetts congressman. Ownership was hastily transferred to someone residing in Missouri. (Only a Missouri resident could legally manumit a slave in Missouri). So the son of one of Dred Scott's former owners filed the papers manumitting the Scotts before the same judge who had twice presided over their trials and heard their redemption song."
P.209-210, REDEMPTION SONGS: SUING FOR FREEDOM BEFORE DRED SCOTT by Lea Vandervelde (2014)
Right back where they had started from, the Scotts ended up; but this time the blessed boon of freedom!
IRONIES OF DRED AND HARRIET SCOTT
Life is fraught with irony.
It was ironic that Dred Scott lost.
Previous freedom suits in St. Louis with slaves as plaintiffs, who had prevailed in jury trials by using the same "freedom by residence" theory as Scott, had won. But not Scott. Newly elected judges of the Missouri Supreme Court, rather than the old system of appointed judges, reversed the "freedom by residence" prior precedent of its own court, taking away Scott 's victory. He sued in federal court. It became a blot on American history.
The reversal of victory was ironic, to be sure , but did not end there. After the United States Supreme Court 's 1857 defeat of Scott and of all blacks, whether slave or free:
"[John F.A.] Sanford triumphed, though he had gone mad, was confined to a sanitarium, and may never have realized his victory, if he even cared. The decision led to the embarrassment of Mrs. Emerson-Chaffee and Calvin Chaffee, her new husband , seated in Congress as a Free Soil Republican from Massachusetts. The national press discovered that the most famous slave in America was owned by a Massachusetts congressman. Ownership was hastily transferred to someone residing in Missouri. (Only a Missouri resident could legally manumit a slave in Missouri). So the son of one of Dred Scott's former owners filed the papers manumitting the Scotts before the same judge who had twice presided over their trials and heard their redemption song."
P.209-210, REDEMPTION SONGS: SUING FOR FREEDOM BEFORE DRED SCOTT by Lea Vandervelde (2014)
Right back where they had started from, the Scotts ended up; but this time the blessed boon of freedom!
