Slavery began in America in 1619 in a country built on freedom and flourished and expanded throughout the country until December 1865. Dred Scott was born a slave in the late 1790s. His trial marked the country's history and changed the United States. The Dred Scott Affair led to the end of the Missouri Compromise. The Missouri Compromise banned slavery in the Louisiana Purchase Territory and included Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey and the Territory of Michigan. The Dred Scott Affair also increased rivalry between the North and South and paved the way for the Civil War. At the time of the trial, the United States was struggling and experiencing many changes. For example, westward expansion which posed serious political problems; southern states wanted to bring slaves and plantations to new territories, and northerners wanted free territories. As more areas were admitted to the United States, both sides feared that the other side would take over Congress with the addition of senators and representatives and influence the decision. Dred Scott was born a slave in the 1790s. The exact date is not known. Since Scott was black and born a slave, such records were not kept. Dred's birth would have been marked by the arrival of a new possession, such as receiving a package in the mail. Scott's owner was Peter Blow, who owned a successful plantation. In 1819, Blow, his family, and his slaves moved to Alabama to start a new plantation. Blow began to tire of farming and in 1830 moved to St. Louis, Missouri. At the time, St. Louis was a frontier town with...... middle of paper ... affair, on September 17, 1858, Scott died of tuberculosis. Scott's descendants continued to build a new life; Dred Scott Madison became a police officer and John A. Madison became a lawyer and served in the very court that denied Dred Scott his freedom. The trial in which Dred Scott tried to win his freedom and lost helped pave the way for civil justice. War and later freedom for slaves in America. His trial changed the United States enormously. Works Cited Frost-Knappman, Elizabeth, Edward W. Knappman, and Lisa Olson. Paddock. Courtroom Drama: 120 of the World's Most Remarkable Trials. Detroit: UXL, 1998. Print. Dershowitz, Alan M. America on Trial: Inside the Legal Battles That Transformed Our Nation. New York: Warner, 2004. Print. Knappman, Edward W., Stephen G. Christianson, and Lisa Olson. Paddock. Great American Trials. Detroit: Gale Research, 1994. Print.