Produced by Meredith Bach, Linda Cantoni, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from scanned images of public domain material from the Google Print project.) [Transcriber's Note: A Table of Contents has been created for the reader's convenience. Minor, obvious printer errors have been corrected without note. Other questionable text is marked by a [Transcriber's Note].] 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. DECEMBER TERM, 1856. BY BENJAMIN C. HOWARD, FROM THE NINETEENTH VOLUME OF HOWARD'S REPORTS. WASHINGTON: CORNELIUS WENDELL, PRINTER. 1857. CONTENTS Syllabus Mr. Chief Justice Taney (majority opinion) Mr. Justice Wayne (concurrence) Mr. Justice Nelson (concurrence) Mr. Justice Grier (concurrence) Mr. Justice Daniel (concurrence) Mr. Justice Campbell (concurrence) Mr. Justice Catron (concurrence) Mr. Justice McLean (dissent) Mr. Justice Curtis (dissent) SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES. DECEMBER TERM, 1856. DRED SCOTT VERSUS JOHN F.A. SANDFORD. DRED SCOTT, PLAINTIFF IN ERROR, _v._ JOHN F.A. SANDFORD. This case was brought up, by writ of error, from the Circuit Court of the United States for the district of Missouri. It was an action of trespass _vi et armis_ instituted in the Circuit Court by Scott against Sandford. Prior to the institution of the present suit, an action was brought by Scott for his freedom in the Circuit Court of St. Louis county, (State court,) where there was a verdict and judgment in his favor. On a writ of error to the Supreme Court of the State, the judgment below was reversed, and the case remanded to the Circuit Court, where it was continued to await the decision of the case now in question. The declaration of Scott contained three counts: one, that Sandford had assaulted the plaintiff; one, that he had assaulted Harriet Scott, his wife; and one, that he had assaulted Eliza Scott and Lizzie Scott, his children. Sandford appeared, and filed the following plea: DRED SCOTT } _v._ } _Plea to the jurisdiction of the Court._ JOHN F.A. SANFORD. } APRIL TERM, 1854.