The Old Courthouse as seen through the Gateway Arch
Right across the block from the giant Gateway arch which pretty much everyone on a trip to St Louis visits and photographs, lies the Old Courthouse which happens to be the tallest habitable building in the city. A lot of the younger tourists are fond of getting a shot of the Old Courthouse encircled by the Arch from the front, for it does create a wonderfully picturesque image, but would scoff at the proposal of taking the tour of the actual Courthouse, for the idea of exploring a courthouse defunct for close to a hundred years doesn't usually score too high on the 'coolness' factor and might be considered borderline nerdy.
Dusk at The Old Courthouse, St Louis
More than a hundred and fifty years ago, though, this place was the site of the first of the two trials in a case which eventually led to a Supreme Court ruling now almost unanimously considered to be the worst ever decision in the history of American judiciary. It is this piece of history which drew us to this place.
Dred Scott, an African-American man, was born into slavery in Virginia at the Blow family residence in the very early 1800s, who relocated to Alabama and then eventually to Missouri. The Blow family gave up on their farming occupation shortly afterwards and this, combined with the fact that most of the younger generation in the family were growing up to be staunch abolitionists, eventually caused Scott (and the other slaves) to be sold off. Scott came into the possession of one Dr John Emerson, a US Army surgeon, and moved and lived with him in Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin for close to seven years. It is in the latter where he met and married Harriet Robinson in a civil ceremony.
By 1843, the Emersons and the Scotts had moved back to Missouri and Dr Jefferson had died, leaving behind his widow Irene who continued to "hire out" the Scotts for work and herself pocket the earnings thereby procured. The Scotts, after unsuccessfully trying to "buy their freedom" resorted to legal recourse in the St Louis Circuit court. They stood on solid ground as there was a law which expressly stated that slaves who had prolonged residence (prolonged here meaning more than 2 years) in "free" states would be considered free men upon return to Missouri, and they had been living in the free northern states for more than 7 years before returning to Missouri. The initial verdict went against Scott, but upon retrial the jury ruled in favour of Scott's freedom.
Dred and Harriett Scott
What followed was long and painful and disgraceful. Irene Emerson wasn't ready to "let it go" so easily, as she appealed and re-appealed, prompting Scott to sue again, this time in Federal Court as both the Scotts and Mrs Emerson had moved to different states now. Finally, after this legal war of 11 years - in 1857, Chief Justice Roger B Taney delivered the majority verdict and one that defied the most basic tenets of human rights and human decency and morality - That the Scotts weren't free to sue for their freedom as African Americans had no claim to freedom or citizenship. Since they were not citizens, they did not possess the legal standing to bring suit in a federal court. There were widespread dissents by other judges and lawyers of the time questioning the legality and logic of the decision, but it stood.
Justice Roger Taney, who delivered the infamous verdict.
But was this the end? By no means.
Irene Emerson's second marriage was to Calvin Chaffee, a Massachusetts based doctor and politician and outspoken abolitionist. Being an abolitionist himself but at the same time marrying an unapologetically and infamously pro-slavery woman who refused to grant freedom to her slaves earned Dr Chaffee nationwide criticism for hypocrisy. Dr Chaffee immediately contacted Taylor Blow, the latest heir of the Blow family(the Scott's former owners) and now a staunch abolitionist and returned the Scotts to him, who immediately granted them freedom. It was a long, long struggle but the Scotts were ultimately free.
Taylor Blow, instrumental in the Scotts’ final quest for freedom.
Dred Scott didn't live for long after this and died of tuberculosis a year later, but one would assume he died a comparatively satisfied(if not happy) man, working at a respectable job at the St Louis hotel and earning a proper salary as a free member of the society. Harriett Scott lived for 19 more years, owning and running a successful laundry business.
Dred Scott's case was seized by both the critics and supporters of slavery as example - albeit for opposing causes - and was a visible, contributing factor behind the Emancipation Proclamation six years later which would give rise to the Civil War and eventually settle these questions once and for all.
Justice Taney and his jury perhaps thought they were stomping out voices of dissent and "bringing back decorum". They were too myopic to realize that change, progress and basic human spirit could not possibly be stomped out and silenced, at least not for long.
Statue of Dred and Harriett Scott in Downtown St Louis
