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Booklet entitled "Report of the Decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, and the Opinions of the Judges Thereof, in the Case of Dred Scott versus John F. A. Sandford" by Benjamin C. Howard. First edition. Washington: Printed by Cornelius Wendell, 1857. Bound with cloth tape, retaining its fragmented front wrapper, 5.5 x 8.75, 239 pages. In good condition, with cloth tape to the spine, significant chipping and losses to the front wrapper, and edge toning to the title page; rear wrapper absent.
The report details the Supreme Court's 1857 ruling in the Dred Scott case, which profoundly impacted the nation's understanding of citizenship, slavery, and the Constitution. The report presents the Court's decision, as well as the dissenting and majority opinions of the justices. In the landmark decision, the Court held that the Constitution did not extend the rights of citizenship to those of black African descent, and declared the Missouri Compromise of 1820 as unconstitutional. The disastrous decision dramatically inflamed tensions leading to the Civil War; Charles Evans Hughes, a future chief justice, called the Dred Scott decision the Court's 'greatest self-inflicted wound.'
