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Dred Scott V Sandford definition

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Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857) — a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision holding that African Americans, whether enslaved or free, were not U.S. citizens and therefore could not sue in federal court, and that Congress lacked constitutional authority to prohibit slavery in U.S. territories (striking down the Missouri Compromise). Decided 1857 (Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, majority), the ruling deepened sectional tensions over slavery and was effectively nullified by the Civil War amendments (13th abolished slavery; 14th guaranteed citizenship and equal protection).