Congress was determined to have no right to deprive citizens of their property without due process of law. Roger Taney founded the Missouri Compromise to be obsolete. However, again there had been precedence on the third ground. Dred Scott may have lost in the eyes of the Supreme Court but there is a different perspective to this case. Instead of looking at the glass half empty, look at the glass half full. By this I am referring to how this case led to Abraham Lincoln's election and the beginning of the Civil War. Buchanan had thought if he had given the Democrats what they wanted then everything would be serene. However the outcome was the antithesis of what he had expected. The number and voice of outraged anti-slavery Northerners grew exponentially. During my research I was surprised to see that a simple man such as this one was still remembered to this day. There were sundry dedications, memorials, and re-enactments of his trial. In 1998 the people of Missouri attended a commemoration ceremony for the one hundred forty first (141st) anniversary of the Dred Scott Decision. On a Sunday afternoon several people portrayed themselves to be and acted in the trial. National Park Ranger Carla Cowles played the role of Harriet Scott. Afterwards Kenneth Kaufman, author of Dred Scott's Advocate participated in a book signing. Finally, visitors re-enacted the Dred Scott trial in one of the old restored rooms of the courthouse on Broadway. The 140th anniversary was also celebrated in the old St. Louis courthouse with a re-enactment of the trial. However, the outcome was changed to show a different perspective of how the trial could have gone. A ten- (10) year old became Alexander Hamilton and defended Dred Scott played by a dental technician. A woman twenty-six (26) years of age played the role of Irene Emerson. A computer software consultant donned the judge's black robe. Hamilton argued that Dred Scott should be freed based...
