Freedom Denied, Freedom Gained

Freedom Denied, Freedom Gained. Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. , In 1854 Dred Scott, his wife Harriet, and a group of lawyers stood before the federal court here in St. Louis. The court rejected their claim for freedom. Four years earlier, Dred and Harriet sued for their freedom at the Old Courthouse and won, but the Missouri Supreme Court reversed the decision in 1852. The Scott family appealed the verdict of the trial held here to the Supreme Court in Washington, DC, but they were again denied freedom. A few months later, the Peter Blow family, descendants of Dred Scott's former owner, purchased the Scott family and gave them their freedom. , This famous case, first heard in St. Louis, fueled the fire that would ignite the Civil War. ,

[Dred Scott] applied to his [owner]… for the purchase of himself and family…[she] refused his proposition, and Dred being informed that he was entitled to his freedom by the operation of the laws regulating the northwest territory, forthwith brought suit for it. , St. Louis Evening News, April 3, 1857

, [Timeline:] , 1846 , Circuit Court of St. Louis County , The Scotts first sued for their freedom in St. Louis at the Old Courthouse , 1847 , The Scotts lost on a technicality and the court gave permission for another trial , 1850 , Circuit Court of St. Louis County , A jury set the Scott family free , 1852 , Missouri Supreme Court , The court reversed the lower court decision , 1854 , Federal Circuit Court District of Missouri , A jury denied freedom to the Scott family here at the Papin Building, March 18577 , The United States Supreme Court , The court upheld the lower federal court decision , May 1857 , The Blow Family purchased the Scott family and gave them their freedom