In todays class, we observed a mock trial for the case Scott v Sandford. This case was very important in shaping the boundaries of slavery. In this case, a slave owner by the name of John Sanford, would not be allowed to get paid off by Scott and the slave sued. The court ultimately decided that Scott was not technically even allowed to sue under federal law because he was african and was not a citizen.
     During the moot court, one side of the class sided with the slave and fought for his freedom. I heard very good arguments such as letting the slave be free because they were technically in a free state when this interaction took place. Also, the Missouri Compromise made slavery illegal in the place that Scott was living at the time.

     On the other side, students defended Mr. John Sandford by saying that he was originally from Louisiana where slavery is legal and therefor, Dred Scott will always be property to Mr. Sandford until he releases him. The most important point of this case and the ultimately the deciding factor was that Dred Scott was fully from african decent and was not considered a citizen. This means that Scott had no legal authority in a court room and the case was dismissed on this condition.
     This decision ultimately led to the north holding little power when it came to the topic of slavery because it had been legally determined that slaves were not equal. When people found out about this controversial decision, there were a lot of people who got upset and looked to reform it.