4 Corners Trip 2023

Sitting on the property of the Gateway Arch National Park is the Old Courthouse.

The Old Courthouse was the site of the first two trials of the Dred Scott case in 1847 and 1850. If you are not familiar with the Dred Scott case, it was a big deal!

Missouri was let into the union along with the state of Maine. Missouri was a “slave state”, and Maine was a “free state”. At this time, to preserve the balance of power in Congress between slave and free states, two states would enter the union at the same time. This was known as the Missouri Compromise of 1820.

Dred Scott was an enslaved African American who had followed his slaveholders to the free states of Illinois and the Wisconsin territory, living there for four years, along with his wife and two kids. After his slaveholder died, he attempted to purchase his freedom for $300 (nearly $10,000 in today’s economy), but his offer was refused. At that point, he filed a freedom suit on the grounds that he had been living in states where slavery was illegal and should therefore be set free.

Though he had a compelling case (to any logically thinking person), and the Missouri circuit court granted the Scott’s their freedom, the case was appealed, and ultimately went all the way to the Supreme Court, where they lost in a 7-2 decision in 1857.

The case was a national catalyst, further pushing a nation already in tension ever closer to the looming Civil War.

As for Dred Scott and his family, following their devastating court loss, they were sold to Republican Congressman Taylor Blow, who immediately set them free. Sadly, Dred Scott only lived as a free man for roughly 16 months before dying of tuberculosis. Harriet, his wife, lived for another 18 years as a free woman, having the pleasure of watching their girls marry, have children, and live their lives in freedom beyond the terrible yoke of slavery.