Revisit: THE DRED SCOTT DECISION, 1857

The Dred Scott v. Sandford case (1857) was the most important slavery-related decision in the United States Supreme Court’s history.  Coming on the eve of the Civil War, and seven years after the Missouri Compromise of 1850, the decision affected the national political scene, impacted the rights of free blacks, and reinforced the institution of slavery. Continue reading Revisit: THE DRED SCOTT DECISION, 1857

LOUISIANA PURCHASE AND AFRICAN AMERICANS (1803)

It is ironic that the 1803 Louisiana Purchase from France was instigated by one of the few successful slave rebellions. Toussaint L’Overture on St. Dominique (now Haiti and the Dominican Republic) so bedeviled the French that Napoleon decided to sell the Louisiana Territory to the US.  This doubled the size of the infant United States and has been heralded as crucial to the American path to becoming the world superpower. It also had profound … Continue reading LOUISIANA PURCHASE AND AFRICAN AMERICANS (1803)