Vermont State Archives and Records Administration
Office of the Vermont Secretary of State
Spotlight on Records
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Vermont and the Dred Scott Decision
On March 6, 1857, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Dred Scott v. Sandford that people of African
descent could never be citizens of the United States. According to the Court the drafters of the U.S.
Constitution believed African-Americans as “beings of an inferior order, and altogether unfit to
associate with the white race, either in social or political relations…”
The Dred Scott decision mobilized abolitionists and marked a significant step in the collapse of political
dialog that led to the Civil War. In Vermont, whose 1777 Constitution not only prohibited slavery but
also based citizenship solely on age and gender (not race or property qualifications), there were
questions on Dred Scott’s impact. In an 1857 letter to Vermont Secretary of State Charles Willard, J.J.
Grindale of Baltimore asked whether, in Vermont, since “both white and coloured vote because they
are men, the question of citizenship is not important…” (Manuscript Vermont State Papers, Vol. 95
Page 181.)
The Vermont Legislature indirectly responded to Grindale’s letter through Act 37 of 1858 that declared,
in part, that: “Neither descent, near or remote, from an African, whether such African is or may have
been a slave or not, nor color of skin or complexion, shall disqualify any person from being, or prevent
any person from becoming, a citizen of this State, nor deprive such person of the rights and privileges
thereof.” (Posted 2008-02.)
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VSARA Reference Room
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1078 US Route 2, Middlesex
Montpelier, VT 05633-7701
http://www.sec.state.vt.us/archives-records/state-archives
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (802) 828-2308
Fax: (802) 828-3710
Twitter: @VTStateArchives
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