Dred Scott (c. 1799 – September 17, 1858) was an enslaved Black American man who unsuccessfully sued for his freedom and that of his wife, Harriet Robinson Scott, and their two daughters in the Dred Scott v. Sandford Supreme Court case of 1857, better known as the "Dred Scott decision". Scott claimed that he and his wife should be granted their freedom because they had lived in Illinois and the Wisconsin Territory for four years, where slavery was illegal. The laws of these areas also stipulated that slaveholders would lose their rights if the enslaved person retained residency for an extended period. But this Supreme Court ruling, decided 7–2 against Scott, found that neither he nor any other person of African ancestry could claim citizenship in the United States, and therefore Scott could not bring suit in federal court under diversity of citizenship rules, which adjudicate cases cross state lines and different nationalities. The Dred Scott Decision essentially deprived all Black people of their rights as citizens of the United States. This decision made it impossible for a person of African descent to receive fair treatment under the law anywhere in the country.
https://www.nps.gov/jeff/planyourvisit/dredscott.htm
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Dred Scott