News

Beyond the Verdict: Harriet Scott’s Story of Survival and Strength

Dred Scott, an enslaved man, was thrust into the public eye when he became the plaintiff in the legal suit for his family’s freedom. Much is known about Dred Scott, but his wife, Harriet, is often overlooked. Who was Harriet, and how did the case affect her and her family?

Harriet Robinson Scott was born in the area around Virginia and Pennsylvania in 1815, to a family enslaved by Major Lawrence Taliaferro. The details of her life before meeting Dred Scott are unclear, but we do know she met him at Fort Snelling in the Northwest Territory while being brought along to her enslaver’s posting. Military forts were technically free territory, but slave owners often disregarded these laws. The couple was soon married under Taliaferro, as he happened to be a justice of the peace. Harriet was seventeen, and Dred was forty at the time, a common age gap in this period. After the marriage, Taliaferro transferred ownership of Harriet to John Emerson, the owner of Dred Scott and a US Army surgeon, whom the Scotts would later sue for their freedom. The Scotts moved around with Emerson as his enslaver’s post changed. While moving from fort to fort, Harriet gave birth to her daughters, Eliza and Lizzie, and two sons who did not survive past infancy. The Scotts were leased out as paid workers, although Emerson confiscated their wages. 

While in Saint Louis, the Scotts filed a petition for their freedom. They claimed that since they had lived at Fort Snelling for a significant amount of time and had been kept as slaves in free territory, they could sue for their freedom using the “once free, always free” argument. Harriet most likely never wanted her case to become so public; the Scotts were normal people who wanted to live normal lives with their daughters out of the grip of slavery. Despite many setbacks and stalls, their case finally reached the Supreme Court but was ultimately rejected. The Court ruled that, since Harriet and her husband were Black and therefore could not be citizens, the same laws that applied to white people did not apply to them. This decision set the precedent that Black people had no legal standing whatsoever.

Despite the devastating loss, Harriet and her husband were later purchased by one Taylor Blow, on May 26th, 1857, who had specifically done so to free them. Dred died less than a year after he had been freed, and Harriet remained with her family in Saint Louis. She worked as a laundry cleaner, a task she did under her previous owners, while avoiding the public eye. She lived amongst her daughters and granddaughters until her death. Harriet lived for more than 20 years after she was freed, and she was able to see the abolition of slavery in her lifetime.

Harriet was said to be paranoid of the consequences notoriety of her family’s case might bring, as she kept her husband from making speeches for fear of violence against him. A protective mother and an unrelenting yet cautious individual, she is a crucial historical figure and role model.