The most famous slave in the USA, about whom all newspapers wrote. The unusual story of Dred Scott (9 photos)

In the middle of the 19th century, everyone in America knew this guy. He was the second most recognizable character after the President.





At that time, the States were still fully exploiting slaves, who had neither the right to vote nor their opinion in the eyes of the people. What did Dred Scott become famous for and was able to make a name for himself that thundered throughout America?



Before moving on to the story of his life, it is worth briefly saying about the situation in America in the first half of the 19th century.

The country is actually divided into two parts. Abolitionists were residents of mainly northern states who opposed slavery.

The fact is that the use of slave labor brought profit only to planters in the southern States. There were no plantations in the north (at most small farms).





Southerners actively used slave labor. Moreover, slaves were not treated like people. And even worse than with horses. Tired, worn out - die, don’t pretend to be a stew. Let's buy a new one.

The States were expanding at this point. Each state was asked whether it would have slavery or not. And the agreement was in force - it was necessary to admit one state into the United States - with and without slavery. So that the balance is not disturbed.

As you understand, this balance was fragile and sooner or later an explosion was bound to occur. And our character today became the first sign.



Dread was born in 1799 into a family of slaves. The owner was a retired military man. First he tried farming in Alabama. Unsuccessfully. So the family moved to Missouri. I mention all these geographical names for a reason. They will be the whole essence of the conflict.



The dreadlock was resold to a local doctor. Dread was lucky, he was an "elite" slave. That is, he knew how to read, and accompanied the owner on business trips. He received permission for the wedding and got married. Tried to redeem himself, but was refused. He offered 300 dollars (about 12 thousand dollars at current prices).

Dread dreamed of freedom. After all, he was sufficiently educated, he could work and support his family. He studied the legislation and decided to go all out.



And he sued the owners. He had a reasonable argument - Dread and his family lived in territories where slavery was prohibited by law. This happened in 1820, when Dread was 21 years old.

The first court recognized Dread's freedom! After all, according to the law, he was completely right. This was his triumph. For the first time, a black man was able to achieve success in the United States through legal legal means.

Newspapers began to trumpet this high-profile case. Dread's image adorned the editorial pages of the country's most popular publications.



But the success was short-lived. The case was sent to a higher authority. The US Supreme Court rejected his claim. The reason was given as follows - Dread is from Africa, which means he is a citizen of one of the African countries, and not the USA. And the court will not consider his case within the framework of American laws.

Slaves are private property. Congress did not have the power to regulate slavery in the territories and could not revoke a slave owner's rights based on where he lived.

All further attempts by Dread to fight ended in failure.



Chance helped. His owner died, his wife married someone else. He turned out to be an opponent of slavery and a congressman. I was very surprised when I saw an African-American famous for his publications in newspapers and gave Dred the long-awaited freedom.

Alas, Dread enjoyed freedom for only a year. To earn a living, a 57-year-old African American was forced to work as a loader. There he fell ill with tuberculosis from which he soon died.



His wife (pictured on the right) lived another 20 years after her husband, and his two daughters had already continued their journey as free citizens.

Well, slavery was finally abolished after the Civil War, seven years after Dread’s death. The Thirteenth Amendment was adopted. It is curious that the last state, ratiThe person who passed this amendment was Mississippi, which is what Dread made the fuss about. Mississippi passed the amendment in 2013.