The Dred Scott Decision was a landmark Supreme Court case in Black history that further entrenched the institution of slavery in the United States. Dred Scott was an enslaved African American man who had lived in free states and territories before returning to a slave state. In 1857, he sued for his freedom based on the argument that his time in free territories should have made him a free man.

The Supreme Court, in a controversial 7-2 decision, ruled against Dred Scott. The Court declared that African Americans, whether enslaved or free, were not citizens of the United States and therefore had no right to sue in federal court. The decision also stated that the federal government had no power to regulate slavery in the territories, effectively rendering the Missouri Compromise of 1820 unconstitutional.

The Dred Scott Decision had far-reaching implications for the status of African Americans in the United States. It reinforced the view that African Americans were not entitled to the same rights and freedoms as white Americans and further divided the nation along the lines of slavery. The decision was widely criticized by abolitionists and anti-slavery advocates, and it ultimately fueled tensions that would lead to the outbreak of the Civil War just a few years later.