Dred Scott Worksheet

Name: _________________________ Date: _______
Key Excerpts from the Dissenting Opinion (Dissent means disagee)
Justice McLean wrote the dissenting opinion. (Court decisions are called
opinions
. . . He [Scott] is averred to have had a negro ancestry, but this does not show
that he is not a citizen of Missouri, within the meaning of the act of Congress
authorizing him to sue in the Circuit Court. It has never been held necessary, to
constitute a citizen within the act, that he should have the qualifications of an
elector. Females and minors may sue in the Federal courts, and so may any
individual who has a permanent domicile in the State under whose laws his rights
are protected, and to which he owes allegiance.
Being born under our Constitution and laws, no naturalization is required, as one
of foreign birth, to make him a citizen. The most general and appropriate
definition of the term citizen is "a freeman." Being a freeman, and having his
domicile in a State different from that of the defendant, he is a citizen within the
act of Congress, and the courts of the Union are open to him.
In the discussion of the power of Congress to govern a Territory, in the case of

the Atlantic Insurance Company v. Canter, (1Peters, 511; 7 Curtis, 685,) Chief
Justice Marshall, speaking for the court, said, " . . . the power of governing a
Territory belonging to the United States, which has not, by becoming a State,
acquired the means of self-government, may result necessarily from the fact that
it is not within the jurisdiction of any particular State, and is within the power and
jurisdiction of the United States. The right to govern may be the inevitable
consequence of the right to acquire territory; whichever may be the source
whence the power is derived, the possession of it is unquestioned."
If Congress may establish a Territorial Government in the exercise of its

discretion, it is a clear principle that a court cannot control that discretion. This
being the case, I do not see on what ground the act [Missouri Compromise] is
held [by the Supreme Court majority's opinion in the Scott case] to be void. It did
not purport to forfeit property, or take it for public purposes. It only prohibited
slavery; in doing which, it followed the ordinance of 1787.
Now, if a slave abscond, he may be reclaimed; but if he accompany his master

into a State or Territory where slavery is prohibited, such slave cannot be said to
have left the service of his master where his services were legalized. And if
slavery be limited to the range of the territorial laws, how can the slave be
coerced to serve in a State or Territory; not only without the authority of law, but
against its express provisions? What gives the master the right to control the will
of his slave? The local law, which exists in some form. But where there is no
such law, can the master control the will of the slave by force? Where no slavery
exists, the presumption, without regard to color, is in favor of freedom. Under
such a jurisdiction, may the colored man be levied on as the property of his
master by a creditor? On the decease of the master, does the slave descend to
his heirs as property? Can the master sell him? Any one or all of these acts may
be done to the slave, where he is legally held to service. But where the law does
not confer this power, it cannot be exercised.
. . . Does the master carry with him the law of the State from which he removes
into the Territory? and does that enable him to coerce his slave in the Territory?
Let us test this theory. If this may be done by a master from one slave State, it
may be done by a master from every other slave State. This right is supposed to
be connected with the person of the master, by virtue of the local law. Is it
transferable? May it be negotiated, as a promissory note or bill of exchange? If it
be assigned to a man from a free State, may he coerce the slave by virtue of it?
What shall this thing be denominated? Is it personal or real property? Or is it an
indefinable fragment of sovereignty, which every person carries with him from his
late domicile? One thing is certain, that its origin has been very recent, and it is
unknown to the laws of any civilized country. . . .
Questions to Consider:
1. On what key points does Justice McLean disagree with Chief Justice
Taney?
2. What examples does Justice McLean use to demonstrate that Scott has
the right to sue in court?
3. In his decision, Chief Justice Taney declared the Missouri Compromise

unconstitutional. How does Justice McLean deal with this argument in his
dissent?

Dred Scott Worksheet

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Dred Scott Worksheet

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Name: ___________________ Date: _

Key Excerpts from the Dissenting Opinion (Dissent means disagee)

In the discussion of the power of Congress to govern a Territory, in the case of

If Congress may establish a Territorial Government in the exercise of its

Now, if a slave abscond, he may be reclaimed; but if he accompany his master

3. In his decision, Chief Justice Taney declared the Missouri Compromise

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