Dred Scott

Enslaved man who sued for his freedom in 1846 after living in free territory with his owner, an Army surgeon. His decade-long legal fight reached the Supreme Court, which ruled 7-2 on March 6, 1857 that he was not a citizen, could not sue, and was property. The decision outraged abolitionists, strengthened the Republican Party, and accelerated the country toward Civil War. The Fourteenth Amendment directly overturned it.