Decisions, Decisions, Decisions
- While the whole Kansas thing was going on, there was also a court case about one Black man's freedom, based on the argument that his master had taken him to free territory.
- The decision in the Missouri Circuit Court came the same month that the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed.
- However, the final decision by the U.S. Supreme Court was pushed back until after the presidential election of 1856.
- By the way, also before the election, Senator Trumbull directly asked Senator Douglas if people could exclude slavery from their territory, and Douglas said it was up to the Supreme Court.
- James Buchanan was elected in 1856, and gave his support to the Lecompton Constitution of Kansas in 1857.
- Remember, the Lecompton Constitution was written by pro-slavery delegates who were voted in fraudulently by people from other states coming into Kansas just to vote.
- President Buchanan publicly asked people to support whatever decision the Supreme Court made about Dred Scott.
- Both Stephen Douglas and President Buchanan openly support the Dred Scott decision.