On April 6, 1846, a slave named Dred Scott and his wife Harriet sued for their freedom in St. Louis' Old Courthouse, now part of Jefferson National Expansion memorial. The Scotts had been taken by their owner to free jurisdictions and then returned to Missouri, a slave state. During an eleven-year period, the Scotts endured two civil trials, a state Supreme Court case, and a federal trial waiting to find out if they would remain enslaved or gain their freedom.

In Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857), the United States Supreme Court stated that Americans of African ancestry were not eligible to be citizens and had no legal rights under the Constitution. Chief Justice Roger B. Taney's opinion also declared that Congress could not prevent the spread of slavery into the Western territories. This decision fueled sectional conflict, which led to the Civil War. --from Spring 2000 Gateway Today, The Official Visitor's Guide to the Gateway Arch and Old Courthouse