“OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE” : : HARRIET ROBINSON SCOTT

“A People without knowledge of their past history, origin, and culture are like a tree without it’s roots” ~ Marcus M Garvey Every year during Black History Month, much is said about Harriet Tubman and how she helped slaves escape to freedom via the Underground Railroad. Well, while researching, I came across another “Harriet” who many Black People have hardly ever heard of. Interesting enough, this Harriet is actually connected to the landmark Missouri Supreme Court decision that held that The “U.S. Constitution” wasn’t meant to include American citizenship for Negroes( regardless of whether they were free or enslaved ). Therefore, Negroes should not be allotted any of the rights and privileges conferred to in the U.S.Constitution. Although through the years, many Black People have heard about the famous court case{ Dred Scott vs Sandford }, few can tell you that the case not only included Mr. Dred Scott, but also included his wife and their children as well! So what does this Harriet have to do with the case? You guessed it, this Harriet was Dred Scott’s wife. Harriet Robinson Scott was born into slavery in the state of Virginia[ around 1815 ]. She was a house Negro for a White man by the name of Major Lawrence Taliaferro. When he received his orders to go and stay at Ft. Snelling( Ft Snelling was Freedom territory, even though many Blacks lived there as slaves ), she went along with him. Around 1936, Dred Scott and his White slave-owner[ a military surgeon named Dr. John Emerson ], arrived at Ft. Snelling. After Dred met Harriet, he started to develop feelings for her. Harriet’s owner decided to sell her to Dred’s owner, so that Dred & Harriet could marry and be together. The couple was not always required to go with their White Masta’ when he received orders to be stationed at other places. Sometimes, they stayed for months in other places without their White Masta’ even being around. When Dr John Emerson died in 1843, ownership of Dred, Harriet, and their two children was passed down to his White wife, Irene Emerson. The Scott family ended up being hired out to different people in St. Louis, Missouri. While in St. Louis the couple came into contact with a group of people who were working to abolish slavery in St. Louis. They were advised by the group to petition for their freedom. On April 6,1836, they filed separate petitions with the St. Louis circuit court, on the grounds that they had lived much of their lives in Freedom territory. After the court dismissed their first petitions, the couple resubmitted petitions for their freedom. However, this time the court decided to combine their petitions together under the heading,”Dred Scott.” On January 12, 1850, the St. Louis circuit court ruled in favor of their Freedom petition. Soon after the ruling, their owner{ Irene Emerson } got with her brother, John Sandford and appealed the ruling to the Missouri Supreme Court. The Missouri Supreme Court reversed the ruling of the circuit court on the grounds that Negroes had no rights to sue Whites in court, because they were not considered citizens of the United States of America! Irene Emerson ended up selling The Scott family to a White family who supported Freedom for Negro slaves. At last, the family who bought the Scott family went on to set the entire Scott family free on May 26, 1857. 1857. In closing, it was reported that because the “circuit court” in St Louis had actually “ruled in favor” of the Scott’s petition for Freedom, White People in southern{ and some northern } states feared that more courts would grant more Negro slaves their Freedom. Therefore, it can be said that the historic “Scott vs Sandford” court case was one of “the sparks” that helped start the American Civil War!