JEFFERSON CITY â 175 years ago, Dred Scott and his wife Harriet first sought to be freed from slavery at the landmark Old Courthouse in downtown St. Louis.
Their case went on for 11 years. While the St. Louis court initially sided with the Scotts, on appeal, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled against them, denying freedom for them and their daughters. The U.S. Supreme Court later upheld the Missouri courtâs decision.
Now, nearly two centuries later, the Missouri legislature has formally declared that the decision was wrong.
House concurrent resolutions 4 and 5, sponsored by Rep. Raychel Proudie, D-Ferguson, gained approval in the Senate on Thursday. It had unanimously passed the House in March.
Senate resolution condemns 1852 Missouri Supreme Court decision in Dred Scott case
By Rudi Keller Missouri Independent
For two brief periods of his life, Dred Scott was a free man.
The first period of freedom began with the decision of a St. Louis jury in January 1850 and continued until March 1852. During that time, Scott and his wife, Harriet, were emancipated because Missouri law recognized they were freed when their owners took them into territory where slavery was prohibited by state and federal law.
That changed when their case reached the Missouri Supreme Court. With three members elected by popular vote for the first time in the state’s history and growing national agitation over slavery, the court, in a 2-1 decision, overturned all standing precedent and returned the couple to bondage.