L90 AFAS 1002 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Dred Scott V. Sandford, Harriet Scott
10 Oct 2016
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Those who control property control people; this does not just apply to slavery, it applies today in the us. Law is often seen as a way to preserve an unfair status quo, using tools masquerading as fairness, a way to maintain injustice by calling it justice. Problemetization allows you to make your own interpretation. Law is a closed system with its own language, uses a vocabulary of its own, a grammar that governs its language. Gendered aspect of case: harriet is usually forgotten. Role of women as participants and victims of legal system. Slave owners made sure that any child born to a slave woman is a slave. Fathers are insignificant, because often slave owners were biological fathers. Harriet wanted to be free so her children would be free. Harriet wanted to prove they were born free. Finally gets the case to the federal court. *african americans were not and never could be american citizens.
