Lesson 2: The Dred Scott Decision
Duration of Days: 3
Lesson Objective
Students will be able to analyze the Dred Scott Decision, its legal reasoning, and its impact on the sectional tensions between the North and South, and use evidence from primary and secondary sources to support their understanding in a DBQ activity.
What were the key arguments and outcomes of the Dred Scott Decision, and how did they affect the status of slavery in the United States?
How did the Dred Scott Decision increase tensions between the North and South and push the nation closer to the Civil War?
Dred Scott
Supreme Court
Missouri Compromise
Citizenship
Property Rights
Sectionalism
Secession
8.His.15.a – Evaluate the relative influence of political, economic, and social developments that contributed to secession (e.g., Free Soil Movement, Nullification, Dred Scott Decision, Harper's Ferry, abolition).
Students will examine the Dred Scott Decision and its impact on the United States in the years leading up to the Civil War. They will analyze the Supreme Court’s ruling, the legal reasoning behind it, and its effects on issues such as slavery, citizenship, and property rights. Through a Document-Based Question (DBQ) activity, students will use primary and secondary sources to evaluate how this decision heightened sectional tensions between the North and South and contributed to the growing divide that led to secession and war.
Provide students with annotated or summarized versions of primary sources in the DBQ.
Advanced students can work with full original texts and analyze language, bias, and legal reasoning.
Students can demonstrate understanding through written DBQ responses, graphic organizers, or visual timelines showing the impact of the decision.
Dred Scott DBQ Activity