Dred Scott and the dangers of a political court / Ethan Greenberg.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

A slave's life -- False promise of freedom : Scott's state court trials -- "A dark and fell spirit" : the Missouri Supreme Court reverses -- New trial and defeat in St. Louis federal court -- At the summit : argument and reargument before the U.S. Supreme Court -- The president-elect secretly intervenes -- "The South is doomed" : Chief Justice Roger Taney -- Taney's opinion of the court : an overview -- Can a black man be a true American? : Taney on Negro citizenship -- "Upon these considerations" : Taney strikes down the Missouri compromise -- The road not taken : Taney on choice of law and res judicata -- The majority concurs (after a fashion) -- Two ringing dissents -- Reaction and the way to Civil War -- The use and misuse of history -- The aspirationalist critique : "indifference to injustice" -- The originalist critique : "first cousin to Roe" -- The traditional "judicial restraint" critique -- Dred Scott and the dangers of a political court.