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6 March 1857

Court decisionSupplement

Dred Scott v. Sandford

United States; Black people and enslaved people

The Supreme Court denied federal citizenship to the class of Black people descended from Africans brought to America and enslaved. It also rejected congressional authority to prohibit slavery in the territories under the Missouri Compromise.

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Context / qualification

The Fourteenth Amendment later overturned the citizenship rule.

Sources

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Founding, expansion, and slavery

The new republic declared liberty while expanding slavery, removing Native nations, and restricting citizenship.

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