'The Dred Scott Supreme Court decision of 1857 was the most significant event relating to

slavery in the years 1850-1865.’’

How far do you agree with this statement?

As slavery became the most pressing social and political issue of the 19th century America,
several events related to slavery came to rise during the years 1850-1865. Among them is the
infamous Dred Scott v. Sandford Supreme Court case that ruled that African Americans did not
have the same rights as White Americans. Though the case remains to be a prominent point of
discussion even to this day, it is inaccurate to describe the Dred Scott decision of 1857 as the
most significant event relating to slavery in the years 1850-1865. The most important event
related to slavery during the years 1850-1865 was the Civil War and the abolition of slavery
itself in 1865 as a result of the Civil War. Beyond the Civil War, other events such as the passage
of the Fugitive Slave Act, the publication of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and
the election of Abraham Lincoln were all related to slavery and were equally as significant as the
Dred Scott case. As such, the Dred Scott Supreme Court decision is certainly not the most
significant event relating to slavery in the years 1850-1865.

1850 was a significant year in American history as it was the year California was admitted into
the year; after much debate about its status as free state or slave state. With the admission of
California also came the 1850 Compromise where Senator Henry Clay tried to placate both the
North and the South. One of the clauses of the 1850 Compromise was the Fugitive Slaves Act,
an act that decreed the return of runaway slaves to their owners even if they were then based in
free states. The Act saw even Black Americans who were not former slaves captured with forces
and return to their supposed ‘owners’. Violence breakout as a result of the Act, when the federal
forces try to capture the former slaves, particularly in the North, ordinary citizens would step up
and try to protect the slaves. One incident at a courthouse in Boston even resulted in the death of
an officer. With the Fugitive Slave Act’s forced capture of former slaves came increasing
awareness about how slaves were treated, and this led to more Northern people denouncing
slavery on moral grounds. The 1852 novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin was also an important piece of
literature that exposed the terrible conditions in which slaves were treated by their owners. Both
of these events were particularly significant in the lead up to the outbreak of Civil War in 1861
because they were directly related to the issue of slavery, and because they also forced more
people into disdaining the institution of slavery.

The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 came as a result of the precarious balance of free and slave
states in the Senate being broken with California’s admission into the union. The Act allowed
Kansas citizens to decide for themselves whether or not they wanted slavery in their states.
Though Kansas eventually voted against slavery, several violent events such as ‘Bleeding
Kansas’ happened in which pro-slavery and anti-slavery extremists engage in violent behaviors
to outvote the other. Popular figures such as John Brown organised raids to harm slave owners,
and free slaves in violent manners. These violence highlights how slavery was becoming a huge
force of tension and division among the geographical lines. The question as to whether or not
slavery should be allowed continued to be the most important question, and in 1857, the United
States Supreme Court tried to put the matter to rest through the Dred Scott v. Sanford case. Chief
Justice Taney wrote the majority opinion that African Americans did not have the same legal
rights to even sue to the Court, and that their owners have the right to take them back as per their
constitutional right since those slaves are deemed to be the owners’ “properties” in the same way
physical objects are. The case caused an uproar among the people of America, and enraged many
anti-slavery activists. However, in the years leading up to the Civil War, many important events
that caused uproar happened in relation to slavery. Thus, it is difficult to state that the Dred Scott
court case was the most significant one.

By the time Abraham Lincoln ran for President in the 1860 election, the aforementioned events
had divided the country so much that Lincoln was able to win the presidency with the Northern
votes alone. Lincoln’s opponent Breckinridge was dealing with such a bitterly divided
Democratic party that was divided along geographical lines on the issue of slavery. Lincoln’s
election also offset the Civil War in 1861 since the Southern pro-slavery forces were convinced
that Lincoln would be working to abolish the very institution of slavery. While Lincoln initially
set out to restrict the expansion of slavery and let it die out naturally, the Civil War did force him
to finally abolish slavery. Slavery is an issue that has divided the country so much to the point
that states were seceeding from the Union and Americans were fighting against each other. The
Civil War was a four-long years war that had more casualties than the Revolutionary War. The
Civil War divided the country more than events like Bleeding Kansas, Dred Scott decision did.
The Americans were quite literally killing each other. Yet, with the end of the Civil War in 1865,
came the abolishing of slavery through the 13th Amendment in the Constitution. As such, in the
years 1850-1865, the most significant issue related to slavery was the Civil War and the
abolishment of slavery as a result of the Civil War.

Due to how big of an issue slavery was to America in the years 1850-1865, there were many big
events that happened in relation to slavery. Among them are several significant events that
divided the country so much, but none more than the Civil War itself. Though racism against
African American persists to modern day, and segregation existed well into the 20th century, the
end of the Civil War did formally abolish the institution of slavery that existed for over 200 years
prior to the Civil War. Events such as Bleeding Kansas, the Dred Scott decision contributed to
the outbreak of the war, so while they had their significance in American history, the most
significant event relating to slavery in the years 1850-1865 was the Civil War and the abolishing
of slavery as a result of the war. Thus, it is wholly inaccurate to call the Dred Scott Supreme
Court decision the most significant event relating to slavery in the years 1850-1865.