Question

Why did Dred Scott believe he was free from enslavement?
He lived in a free territory.
He escaped to the North.
He married a person who was set free.
He was born a free man.

Answer 1

Dred Scott believed he was free from enslavement primarily because he had lived in a free territory. Scott was taken by his owner to the free state of Illinois and then to the Wisconsin Territory, where slavery was prohibited by the Missouri Compromise. Scott argued that these circumstances entitled him to his freedom. His case ultimately went to the Supreme Court, which ruled against him in 1857, stating that he had no right to sue in federal court and that living in a free territory did not grant him freedom.