Slavery first began in America in 1619 in a country built on freedom and thrived and grew throughout the country until December of 1865. Dred Scott was born into slavery in the late 90s of the eighteenth century. His trial was significant to the country's history and changed the United States. The Dred Scott affair led to the end of the Missouri Compromise. The Missouri Compromise outlawed slavery in the Louisiana Purchase Territory and included Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, and the Michigan Territory. The Dred Scott affair also increased the rivalry between the North and the South and paved the way for the Civil War. At the time of the trial the United States was going through hardship and going through many changes. For example, the westward expansion which raised serious political problems; Southern states wanted to bring slaves and plantations to new territories, while Northern states wanted free territories. As new areas were admitted to the United States, both sides feared that the other would take the lead in Congress when senators and representatives were added and would influence the decision. Dred Scott was born into slavery around 1790. The exact date is not known. Because Scott was black and born into slavery, such records were not kept. Dred's birth would be noted as the arrival of a new good, such as receiving a package in the mail. Scott's owner was Peter Blow, who owned a successful plantation. In 1819, Blow, his family, and slaves moved to Alabama to start a new plantation. Blow began to tire of farming and moved to St. Louis, Missouri in 1830. At the time, St. Louis was a frontier town with... half of paper... case, on September 17 or 1858, Scott died of tuberculosis. Scott's descendants built new lives; Dred Scott Madison became a police officer, and John A. Madison became a lawyer and practiced law in the same court that denied Dred Scott his freedom. The trial in which Dred Scott tried to gain his freedom, and in which he lost, helped shape the path to the Civil War and then freedom for slaves in America. His trial changed the United States immensely. Works Cited Frost-Knappman, Elizabeth, Edward W. Knappman, and Lisa Olson. Paddock. Courtroom Drama: 120 of the World's Most Important Trials. Detroit: UXL, 1998. Print.Dershowitz, Alan M. America on Trial: Inside the Legal Battles That Transformed Our Nation. New York: Warner, 2004. Print.Knappman, Edward W., Stephen G. Christianson, and Lisa Olson. Paddock. Great American trials. Detroit: Gale Research, 1994. Print.