The Dred Scott case furthered the cause of the abolitionists' struggle to end slavery.

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The Dred Scott decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1857 declared that African Americans, whether enslaved or free, could not be American citizens and therefore had no standing to sue in federal court. Additionally, the court ruled that the federal government had no power to regulate slavery in the federal territories acquired after the creation of the United States. This decision outraged abolitionists and intensified the sectional conflict over slavery, but it did not directly further the abolitionists' cause as it legally reinforced the institution of slavery.

The Dred Scott Case Furthered the Cause of the Abolitionists