A slave's life
False promise of freedom : Scott's state court trials
"A dark and fell spirit" : the Missouri Supreme Court reverses
New trial and defeat in St. Louis federal court
At the summit : argument and reargument before the U.S. Supreme Court
The president-elect secretly intervenes
"The South is doomed" : Chief Justice Roger Taney
Taney's opinion of the court : an overview
Can a black man be a true American? : Taney on Negro citizenship
"Upon these considerations" : Taney strikes down the Missouri compromise
The road not taken : Taney on choice of law and res judicata
The majority concurs (after a fashion)
Two ringing dissents
Reaction and the way to Civil War
The use and misuse of history
The aspirationalist critique : "indifference to injustice"
The originalist critique : "first cousin to Roe"
The traditional "judicial restraint" critique
Dred Scott and the dangers of a political court.