The Importance of Slavery in the United States

Buchanan had been tipped off about the upcoming decision in Dred Scott versus Sanford which came down two days after his inauguration. The ruling was made in the case of Dred Scott an enslaved black man whose owners had taken him from Missouri to free territory. He sued in court for his freedom claiming that because he had taken into free territory he had been freed and was legally no longer a slave. Two days after Buchanan's inauguration in March of 1857 the Supreme Court issued a seven to two decision against Dred Scott.