the Dred Scott Case
/ðə ˌdred ˈskɒt keɪs/
/ðə ˌdred ˈskɑːt keɪs/
(also the Dred Scott decision
/ðə ˌdred ˈskɒt dɪsɪʒn/
/ðə ˌdred ˈskɑːt dɪsɪʒn/
)- a US Supreme Court decision in 1857 that a slave was not a citizen and could not begin a legal case against anyone. Dred Scott was an enslaved man who wanted a court to say he was free because his owner took him to a free state. The Supreme Court also decided that Congress had no power to prevent slavery in new states. The case divided the nation and led indirectly to the Civil War.
1857 年，美国最高法院做出一项裁决，规定奴隶不是公民，不能对任何人提起法律诉讼。德雷德·斯科特是一个被奴役的人，他希望法庭宣布他是自由的，因为他的主人把他带到了自由州。最高法院还裁定国会无权阻止新州的奴隶制。此案分裂了国家并间接导致了内战。