Which Supreme Court decision stated that slaves were property and could not sue in federal court, and declared the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional?

• A. Dred Scott
• B. Kansas-Nebraska Act
• C. Emancipation Proclamation
• D. 13th Amendment

Answer: (A)

The key idea here is the Dred Scott decision. In 1857, the Supreme Court ruled that enslaved people were property and could not be citizens, so they had no right to sue in federal courts. The same ruling also said Congress could not prohibit slavery in the territories, which meant the Missouri Compromise’s prohibition on slavery north of the 36°30′ line was unconstitutional. This decision intensified sectional tensions by denying federal limits on the spread of slavery and by denying African Americans citizenship in the eyes of the federal government. The other options are not Supreme Court rulings that defined citizenship for enslaved people or struck down the Missouri Compromise.