Dred and Harriet Scott Collection

Image Gateway –The Scott Family

Scott Family

Harriet Scott, Eliza Scott, Lizzie Scott, and Dred Scott (family portrait adapted from Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper by Amanda DeLorenzo and colorized by Cooper Wingert, ’20 // Courtesy of House Divided Project)

Video Gateway –Teaching a Family Story

Click HERE for a transcript of this video

Behind the Image Gateway —Dred Scott’s Family

Featured Pamphlet:  Citizen or Slave:  The Dred Scott Decision, 1857

Featured Exhibit —Dred Scott Decision and Its Bitter Legacy (Google Arts)

Handout– Slavery Through Dred Scott

More Image Gateways

Johnson 1859

Courtesy of New York Historical Society

VanderVelde Freedom Suit Image

Courtesy of Lea VanderVelde


Part 1: Coming of War

The objective in Part 1 is to help classroom teachers find new and better ways to humanize the coming of war narrative.  The conflict over slavery may well have been “irrepressible,” but nobody should teach this dramatic subject in ways that drain the dramatic elements of human choice out of the equation or make the Civil War seem inevitable.  Moreover, by rendering complicating constitutional subjects such as the Dred Scott Case or the fugitive slave law in more human terms, teachers can actually help students find deeper insights into the underlying causes of the war.

Featured Document — John Brown at Court (1859)

Handout–  Fugitive Crisis Timeline

Further Reading: UGRR and Coming of War // Harpers Ferry Raid

Featured Student Video:  Old Carlisle Courthouse (10 mins.)

Slavery:  Interpretive Trends and Special Resources