Dred Scott v. Stanford

In March 1857, in one of the most controversial events preceding the American Civil War (1861-65), the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in the case of Dred Scott v. Sanford. The case had been brought before the court by Dred Scott, a slave who had lived with his owner in a free state before returning to the slave state of Missouri. Scott argued that his time spent in these locations entitled him to emancipation. In his decision, Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, a staunch supporter of slavery, disagreed: The court found that no black, free or slave, could claim U.S. citizenship, and therefore blacks were unable to petition the court for their freedom.

It is absolutely exhausting to think about slavery and America's hurtful past. It was such a drastic period in the history that had significant impact of the society. Some of the aspects in affected the society are:

Broken Traditions

African family traditions, which varied according to national origin and religion, could not be replicated in the New World after Africans were forced into slavery. The slave trade was responsible for breaking up African families. Husbands, wives and children could be sold separately because U.S. law did not legally recognize their families.

Broken Families

Enslaved Black people were denied a secure family life. Because they were property and could not legally marry, a permanent family could not be a guaranteed part of enslaved people’s lives. They had no right to live or stay together, no right to their own children, and it was common for enslaved parents and children to live apart.

Illiteracy

Schooling was not an option for enslaved children, and, in most states, it was illegal to teach enslaved Black people to read and write.

Unpaid Workforce

This use of unpaid labor to produce wealth lay at the heart of slavery in America. Enslaved people usually worked from early in the morning until late at night. Women often returned to work shortly after giving birth, sometimes running from the fields during the day to feed their infants.

Broken Legacy

Enslaved families were also divided for inheritance when an owner died, or because the owners’ adult children moved away to create new lives, taking some of the enslaved people with them.

Mortality Rate

More than one-half of Black infants died before they were 1 year old. This mortality rate was almost double that of whites. Although the survival rate improved after enslaved children reached a year of age, their mortality rate continued to be double that of whites until they were 14 years old.

Rape of Women

Slave women were constantly sexually abused by white men, and they had no legal right to resist that abuse. “To oppose the rape of Black women in effect meant opposing slavery. A Black woman’s body was not considered her own. Control over her body was passed from white person to white person along with a bill of sale.”