en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dred_Scott_v._Sandford
3 corrections found
By hiring Scott out in a free state
This is geographically incorrect. Scott was hired out at Fort Snelling in Wisconsin Territory, not in a free state.
Full reasoning
The article itself places Scott at Fort Snelling when Emerson hired him out. Fort Snelling was not in a state at that time; it was in Wisconsin Territory. National Park Service material on Dred Scott says Emerson left Dred and Harriet at Fort Snelling and left them "in Wisconsin to be hired out," and separately describes Wisconsin as a free territory, contrasting it with Illinois, which was the free state. The State Historical Society of Missouri likewise says Emerson was transferred to Fort Snelling "in the Wisconsin Territory" and that Scott remained there before being sent south. So describing this as hiring Scott out "in a free state" is factually wrong; it was in a free territory.
2 sources
- Chapter 1: Race, Slavery, and Freedom - No Rights to be Respected (U.S. National Park Service)
Emerson took Scott along when he was transferred to posts in the free state of Illinois and the free territory of Wisconsin... In October of 1837, Emerson left Fort Snelling for an assignment in Saint Louis, leaving Dred and Harriet in Wisconsin to be hired out.
- Dred Scott - SHSMO Historic Missourians
In 1836, Emerson was transferred to Fort Snelling on the upper Mississippi in the Wisconsin Territory, now Minnesota... For the next year, Dred Scott remained at Fort Snelling with his bride.
his residence in the purportedly free Northwest Territory
This names the wrong territory. Scott's relevant residence was at Fort Snelling in Wisconsin Territory, not the Northwest Territory.
Full reasoning
The place central to Scott's freedom claim was Fort Snelling in Wisconsin Territory. Contemporary summaries and later historical references consistently identify his residence there, not in the Northwest Territory. The National Park Service chronology states that the Court held Scott's "Residence in Wisconsin Territory" had no effect on his status, and multiple historical summaries place Fort Snelling in Wisconsin Territory (present-day Minnesota). So calling Scott's residence the "purportedly free Northwest Territory" is a factual geographic error.
2 sources
- Dred Scott - SHSMO Historic Missourians
In 1836, Emerson was transferred to Fort Snelling on the upper Mississippi in the Wisconsin Territory, now Minnesota.
- Dred Scott Chronology - Gateway Arch National Park (U.S. National Park Service)
1836 ... Fort Snelling was in territory from which slavery was barred by the Missouri Compromise of 1820... 1856 ... Residence in Wisconsin Territory had no effect on Dred Scott's status because the Missouri Compromise was invalid.
Dred Scott died of tuberculosis on November 7, 1858.
The date is wrong. Dred Scott died of tuberculosis on September 17, 1858, not November 7, 1858.
Full reasoning
Multiple historical sources give Dred Scott's death date as September 17, 1858. The State Historical Society of Missouri says he "died on September 17, 1858," and the American Battlefield Trust likewise states that he died of tuberculosis on that same date. Because these sources agree on the exact date, the article's statement that he died on November 7, 1858 is incorrect.
2 sources
- Dred Scott - SHSMO Historic Missourians
Sadly, Scott became sick with tuberculosis and died on September 17, 1858, just a little more than a year after gaining his freedom.
- Dred Scott | American Battlefield Trust
He died of tuberculosis on September 17, 1858, exactly four years before the Battle of Antietam would compel Lincoln to issue his Emancipation Proclamation.