The Supreme Court on the Slavery Question.Springfield, Illinois, State Journal [Republican](16 March 1857)
A telegraphic synopsis of the decision of a
majority of the Supreme Court on the Dred
Scott case, has been already presented to our
readers. We give this morning an abstract of
the opinions of Justice McLean and Curtis,
dissenting from said decision, wherein they
maintain that the Missouri Compromise is constitutional --
that Freedom is constitutional --
that the power of Congress to prohibit Slavery
in the Territories is derived from the Constitution --
and that the power to acquire territory
carries with it the power to govern the same.
Judge Curtis also maintains that native born
colored persons can be citizens of the State and
of the United States; that Dred Scott and his
family were free when they returned to Missouri,
and that the power of Congress to make
all needful rules and regulations respecting the
territory was not, as the majority of the court
expressed, limited to territory belonging to the
United States at the time of the adoption of the
constitution, but has been applied to five
subsequent acquisitions of land.
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