Dred Scott first went to trial to sue for his freedom in 1847. Ten years later, after appeals and court reversals, his case was finally brought before the United States Supreme Court. In what is perhaps the most infamous case in its history, the court decided that all people of African race -- slaves as well as those who were free -- could never become citizens of the United States and they could not sue in the federal court. The court also ruled that the federal government did not have the power to prohibit slavery in its territories. Scott remained a slave. Scott went to trial in June of 1847, but lost on a technicality -- he couldn't prove that he and Harriet were owned by Emerson's widow. The following year the Missouri Supreme Court decided that case should be retried. In an 1850 retrial, the St Louis circuit court ruled that Scott and his family were free. Two years later the Missouri Supreme Court again as involved with Dred Scott , reversing the decision of the lower court. Scott and his lawyers then brought his case to a federal court, the United States Circuit Court in Missouri. In 1854, the Circuit Court had a decision of the Missouri Supreme Court. There was now only one other place to go. Scott appealed his case to the United States Supreme Court.
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