Question

How did the Dred Scott decision impact the expansion of slavery?

1) The Supreme Court ruled that slavery could exist only where it already did.
2) The Supreme Court ruled that only the people living in the territory could forbid slavery.
3) The Supreme Court ruled that Congress could not forbid slavery from federal territories.
4) The Supreme Court ruled that the President could not allow slavery into newly acquired lands.

Answer 1

The Dred Scott decision allowed for the expansion of slavery into federal territories by ruling that Congress could not forbid slavery in these areas, thereby nullifying the Missouri Compromise and exacerbating sectional tensions.

Step-by-step explanation:

Impact of the Dred Scott Decision on Slavery Expansion

The Dred Scott decision decidedly impacted the expansion of slavery in the United States. The Supreme Court, in Dred Scott v. Sandford, ruled that Congress could not forbid slavery in federal territories, thereby opening the possibility of slavery expanding into the western territories.

Point 3 of the options provided is correct—the Court ruled that Congress lacked the power to decide whether slavery would be permitted in any territory acquired after the Constitution was ratified. The implications were significant, as this meant that popular sovereignty, or the principle that the settlers of a given territory had the right to decide upon the issue of slavery, was also effectively undermined. The ruling, therefore, indicated that the federal government could not pass laws to limit the expansion of slavery into the west, invalidating the Missouri Compromise and promoting sectional conflict between the North and South.