In 1847, Scott filed a lawsuit against his owner, John Sandford, for his freedom. Scott argued that he had become a free man when he lived in the free territory of Illinois. The case was eventually appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled against Scott in 1857.
The Dred Scott decision was one of the most controversial Supreme Court decisions in American history. It ruled that African Americans were not citizens and could not sue in federal court. It also said that the Missouri Compromise of 1820, which had prohibited slavery north of the 36°30′ parallel, was unconstitutional.
The Dred Scott decision further deepened the divisions between the North and the South and helped to bring on the Civil War. It was a major victory for the slaveholding South, but it also outraged many people in the North and helped to unite anti-slavery forces. The decision was overturned by the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1865, which abolished slavery.
In addition to its legal and political significance, the Dred Scott case also had a significant impact on the personal life of Dred Scott himself. He and his family were freed after the Civil War, but they faced many challenges and hardships in the years that followed. Scott died of tuberculosis in 1858, just a few months after his case was decided by the Supreme Court.
Today, Dred Scott is remembered as a symbol of the struggle for racial equality in America. His case was a major turning point in the nation's history, and it helped to pave the way for the abolition of slavery.