LAD 14

A large part of this whole ordeal can be seen as a court problem. It was a problem waiting to explode at any moment, and this certain slavery issue set the courts on fire. Much of the controversy was based on the higher courts completely reversing the lower courts decision, even when all the laws favoured Dred Scott. Also, they brought up the points of citizenship, rights of blacks, and states vs the union. All of these things fueled the controversy, but the most controversial part of this situation was that one man or one court could declare a major part of the governement "unconstitutional" at will. Taney easily deemed the Missouri Compromise "unconstitutional", which is what makes this case so terrifying. Altogether this situation can be seen as an entry to the civil war, and people all over the United States were very interested in it.