Episode 27: Frederick Douglass Takes on the Dred Scott Decision

Creating America · Sep 17, 2026 · 54m · transcript

In 1857, the Supreme Court handed down the infamous Dred Scott decision, declaring that Black Americans could not be citizens of the United States and ruling against Congress’s ability to prohibit slavery in the territories.

Frederick Douglass, one of the most well known and fiery abolitionist orators of his day and a former slave, had some thoughts.

In this episode of the Creating America Podcast, we hear excerpts from Douglass’s powerful speech, “On the Occasion of the Anniversary of the American Abolition Society,” delivered in May 1857, shortly after the Dred Scott decision.

Douglass…