Dred Scott - Research Paper Example

who were forcibly taken from their homeland, transported under extremely harsh conditions and made to work under even worse conditions in the various rice, cotton and tobacco plantations spread all over the southern parts of America. These slaves once sold to their white owners, lost their freedom for ever. Often they were treated brutally by these owners resulting in deaths for many of these unfortunate black people. Such accounts of tortures and brutalities on the black slaves are well documented in the very famous book “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” by Harriet Jacob.

“Uncle Toms cabin” by Harriet Beecher Stowe also deals with similar issues. Dred Scott is one such black African slave who fought a war against the legal and social system of nineteenth century America to get his freedom. Free slave was a concept almost unheard of in the pre-civil war America. At that time the slaves were the personal property of their owners and were treated as such. Dred Scott was another such slave born in the year 1799 in Virginia and was owned by the family of a white southern named Peter Blow.

In 1830 when this family shifted base to St. Louis, Missouri they took Dred along with them and later sold him off to one Dr. John Emerson who was in the service with the army of the United States. Here there is some confusion as to who the real Dred Scott was. From old records it has been found that before his death, Peter Blow had one female and five male slaves. However after his death his estate inventory recorded only four male slaves. So it can be assumed that Blow before his death in 1832 had sold one of his male slaves.

In 1833, records show that there was another sale of a male slave named Sam from the Blow family for 500$ to clear their outstanding credits and dues. When Dr. Emerson came to Fort Armstrong in Illinois in 1833 with him was a slave who had previously been with the Blow family. The name of this slave was Dred Scott. There is much debate amongst