8) Dred Scott: Origin of Original Intent

The American Story: A Narrative History of the United States

As we review the final flash points of the sectional crisis that finally led to civil war, Dr. Mitton identifies the genesis of the judicial doctrine known as "original intent" as the 1857 Dred Scott case when U.S. Chief Justice Roger B. Taney held that African Americans, whether free not, could never become American citizens because, as Taney saw it, that would clearly violate the original intent of the country's Founders.