Center For Civic Education
60 Second Civics: Rights Before Civil War Pt. 10: Not Slaves but Not Free
Even free African Americans living in the North in the nineteenth century were not treated as full citizens.
Center For Civic Education
60 Second Civics: Rights Before Civil War Pt. 11: Dred Scott v. Sanford
The Supreme Court in 1857 thought it could avoid war by finding that African Americans were not citizens. The effect was precisely the opposite.