Dred Scott 1857 + Lincoln-Douglas Debates 1858 + John Brown's Harpers Ferry Oct 1859

Review L5: Bleeding Kansas + Republican Party. Bridge: in 1857 Supreme Court tried to settle slavery once and for all — by declaring Black people had NO rights any white man was bound to respect.

• Display Dred Scott portrait
• Review Missouri Compromise 1820
• Activate MG-7 Q9

Dred Scott v. Sandford March 6 1857 (60 US 393) — Dred Scott (b.~1799 enslaved VA; taken to free territories IL+WI 1830s; sued 1846) lost 7-2 by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney (MD slaveholder appointed Jackson 1836). 3 holdings: (1) Black people, free or enslaved, were not + COULD NEVER BE US citizens — Taney: 'They had for more than a century before been regarded as beings of an inferior order... so far inferior, that they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect' (his judicial ruling); (2) Missouri Compromise 1820 unconstitutional; (3) Scott's residence in free territory could not make him free. Northern outrage. Justice Curtis (MA) dissent refuted Taney's history (5 of 13 colonies allowed Black men to vote at Constitution ratification). LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATES 1858: 7 debates Aug 21-Oct 15 1858. Lincoln 'House Divided' Springfield June 16 1858: 'A house divided against itself cannot stand.' Freeport Doctrine (debate 2 Aug 27 1858): Lincoln asked Douglas how popular sovereignty could survive Dred Scott; Douglas answered territorial legislatures could decline enabling laws — 'unfriendly legislation'. Freeport answer satisfied Northern Democrats but enraged Southern Democrats + split Democratic Party at 1860 convention. Lincoln LOST 1858 Senate but emerged as national Republican figure. HARPERS FERRY Oct 16-18 1859: John Brown (b.1800 CT abolitionist age 59 with 21 men incl. 5 Black: Shields Green + John Anthony Copeland + Lewis Sheridan Leary + Osborne Perry Anderson + Dangerfield Newby) seized US federal armory at Harpers Ferry VA (now WV) intending to spark enslaved-people's uprising. US Army under Lt. Col. Robert E. Lee + Lt. Jeb Stuart suppressed in 36 hours; 10 of Brown's men killed + Brown captured + 4 civilians killed including town's free-Black baggage master Heyward Shepherd. Brown tried by VA state court; convicted treason + murder + conspiring with enslaved persons to rebel; HANGED Dec 2 1859 Charles Town VA — final note: 'I, John Brown, am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with blood.' Frederick Douglass had been Brown's friend but REFUSED to join (knew it would fail militarily); Shields Green — Douglass's friend — DID join and was hanged Dec 16 1859 with others. Brown's raid radicalized: South saw proof Northern abolitionists were violent + plotting; North saw Brown as martyr.

• Per Foner 2019 — 14th Amendment Section 1 birthright-citizenship clause explicitly + intentionally overturned Dred Scott.

  model (1) Black people, free or enslaved, not + could never be US citizens; (2) Missouri Compromise 1820 unconstitutional — Congress no power to limit slavery in territories; (3) Scott's residence in free territory could not have made him free. Per Foner 2010 + Finkelman 2007 worst Supreme Court decision in US history; overturned by 13th + 14th Amendments 1865-1868.

  prompt What were the 3 holdings of Dred Scott?
• model Douglass + Brown met at stone quarry near Chambersburg PA Aug 19 1859. Douglass argued raid would fail militarily; committed to ELECTORAL politics + abolitionist journalism. Shields Green — present at Chambersburg — told Douglass: 'I b'lieve I'll go wid de old man.' Per Du Bois 1909 John Brown + Reynolds 2005 — most poignant moment in Black-abolitionist history. Douglass had to flee briefly to Canada fall 1859 to avoid prosecution.

  prompt Why did Douglass refuse to join Brown while Shields Green joined and was hanged?

• 3 holdings of Dred Scott?
• What did Lincoln say at 'House Divided'?
• Name 1 of 5 Black men in Brown's raiding party.

M-8-F-HIS-06-A Photograph

Dual portrait: Dred Scott c.1857 daguerreotype Missouri Historical Society original + Chief Justice Taney c.1858 Mathew Brady studio — captions with dates + biographical facts; refuses 'history of great judges only' framing by centering Scott as human-rights claimant + agent of his own 1846-1857 freedom suit.

M-8-F-HIS-06-B Photograph

Lithograph + photograph composite of 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates showing Ottawa IL debate setting Aug 21 1858 + crowd ~10,000 + 7 debate locations on map; Lincoln (age 49 + 6'4'') vs Douglas (age 45 + 5'4'') contrast; captions with all 7 debate dates + outcome (Lincoln lost Senate but emerged 1860 contender).

M-8-F-HIS-06-C Photograph

Composite Brown 1859 photograph (Augustus Washington daguerreotype c.1846-1847 + later 1859 sitting) + biographical cards for 5 Black raiders: Shields Green (formerly enslaved SC; hanged Dec 16 1859); John Anthony Copeland (free Black NC+OH; hanged Dec 16 1859); Lewis Sheridan Leary (free Black NC; killed; husband of Mary Patterson Leary who later raised grandson Langston Hughes); Osborne Perry Anderson (free Black PA+OH; escaped + published 1861 A Voice from Harper's Ferry); Dangerfield Newby (free Black VA whose wife + child remained enslaved; killed). Heyward Shepherd memorial + tragic irony noted.

• Pairs: read paragraph from Taney + apply Q9.

  scaffold Taney excerpt + sentence frames
• Pairs: identify 5 Black men in Brown's party + 1 sentence per name on pre-raid life.

  scaffold Biographical cards

M-8-F-HIS-06-D Map

Topographic map of Harpers Ferry VA (now WV) Oct 16-18 1859 showing US federal armory + Shenandoah + Potomac river confluence + town layout; raid sequence Oct 16 evening seizure of armory + bridges; Oct 17 trapped in engine house + Heyward Shepherd killed + Brown's son Watson killed; Oct 18 US Army under Lee + Stuart breach engine house + Brown captured. Paired with Brown Nov 2 1859 court statement.

• 3 holdings of Dred Scott?
• What did Lincoln mean by 'A house divided'?
• Name 2 of 5 Black men in Brown's party.

• Add 1 sticky to MG-6
• Preview L7: Election 1860 + secession + Cornerstone Speech

• Read 1-page Dred Scott OR Lincoln 'House Divided' OR Brown final statement; write 1 paragraph applying MG-7 + Q9.