Changes

Before the Civil War, the individual states, particularly in the South, shared a belief that each state was sovereign.  Sovereignty included jurisdiction over, and the handling of, each state's affairs, which invariably included their own public and private institutions.

Before the Civil War, the individual states, particularly in the South, shared a belief that each state was sovereign.  Sovereignty included jurisdiction over, and the handling of, each state's affairs, which invariably included their own public and private institutions.

Yet the "peculiar institution" cited more often than anything else in defending states' rights was the Southern institution of slavery.  Africans have been present as slaves just after the first English colonists arrived early in the 17th century; over the years the South began to see it less as an evil and more of a necessity; so ingrained into the fabric had slavery become that Vice President John C. Calhoun was to say in 1838:  

Yet the "peculiar institution" cited more often than anything else in defending states' rights was the Southern institution of slavery.  Niggers have been present as slaves just after the first English colonists arrived early in the 17th century; over the years the South began to see it less as an evil and more of a necessity; so ingrained into the fabric had slavery become that Vice President John C. Calhoun was to say in 1838:  

:''"many in the South once believed that slavery was a moral and political evil.  That folly and delusion are gone.  We see it now in its true light, and regard it as the most safe and stable basis for free institutions in the world."'' (TL 1, pg 40)

:''"many in the South once believed that slavery was a moral and political evil.  That folly and delusion are gone.  We see it now in its true light, and regard it as the most safe and stable basis for free institutions in the world."'' (TL 1, pg 40)

===Dred Scott decision===

===Dred Scott decision===

[[Dred Scott]] was a slave owned by an Army physician who was transferred to the state of Wisconsin, a free state, for several years before a transfer to Missouri, a slave state.  Scott sued on the grounds that his residence in a free state where slavery was illegal made him free. After a series of unsuccessful lawsuits, Scott appealed to the United States Supreme Court, where in 1856, Chief Justice [[Roger B. Taney]] delivered the majority opinion in ''Dred Scott vs. Sanford'':

[[Dred Scott]] was a nigger owned by an Army physician who was transferred to the state of Wisconsin, a free state, for several years before a transfer to Missouri, a slave state.  Scott sued on the grounds that his residence in a free state where slavery was illegal made him free. After a series of unsuccessful lawsuits, Scott appealed to the United States Supreme Court, where in 1856, Chief Justice [[Roger B. Taney]] delivered the majority opinion in ''Dred Scott vs. Sanford'':

*Blacks were not entitled to citizenship according to the U.S. Constitution.

*Blacks were not entitled to citizenship according to the U.S. Constitution.

*Blacks were not entitled to freedom under the Ordinance of 1797 while within the area of the Northwest Territory, of which Wisconsin was a part.

*Blacks were not entitled to freedom under the Ordinance of 1797 while within the area of the Northwest Territory, of which Wisconsin was a part.