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ST. LOUIS, MO (KTVI) – A statue honoring Harriet and Dred Scott was unveiled at the Old Courthouse downtown.

That’s the very same site where in 1846 the couple sued for their freedom from slavery setting in motion the presidential candidacy of Abraham Lincoln, the Civil War and three Amendments to the Constitution.

The decision in the Scott case is acknowledged for the influential role it played in alerting the national political landscape in addition to Lincoln’s candidacy and election.

Additional Information

The Dred Scott Heritage Foundation at http://www.thedredscottfoundation.org.

According to the online Dred Scott history exhibit at Washington University in St. Louis: “St. Louis’ Old Courthouse was the site of one of the most important events in American history. Dred Scott, a slave aged some 50 years, and his wife Harriet, petitioned for their freedom in 1846. The Scotts’ two trials, in 1847 and 1850 in Missouri, instigated a series of complex events which resulted in a Supreme Court decision, and ultimately hastened the onset of the American Civil War.” For more information, go to http://digital.wustl.edu/d/dre/history.html.