On Sunday, April 27, at 2 pm, in the lower meeting room of C. H. Booth Library, 25 Main Street, Newtown Historical Society will host a lecture on “The Dred Scott Decision.”

Dred Scott was a slave who petitioned for his freedom because his owner had taken him into free states. His case went to the Supreme Court where his attempt for freedom was denied. This in effect meant that slavery was legal everywhere in the United States, overturning the earlier Kansas and Nebraska Act and the Missouri Compromise which had limited the growth of slavery in some ways.

Tensions between the North and the South were already at a high pitch in 1857 due to the Fugitive Slave Act, the blockbuster sale of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, as well as economic and other issues.

Considered one of the most controversial uses — or abuses — of power in the history of the United States Supreme Court, the 1857 Dred Scott decision intensified the conflict over slavery in America. The Supreme Court’s decision played a meaningful role in Lincoln’s rise to power; and thus, the country’s inevitable decline into Civil War.

Speaker Mark Albertson is one of the historical society’s favorite lecturers. He has presented for the local society several times.

The event is free and light refreshments will be served.

Registration is requested and available at chboothlibrary.org.