The Scott's loss provided an answer to the question to whether a slave brought north over the Missouri Compromise Line was instantly and permanently free. The answer that was ruled by the supreme court divided America by solidifying the institution of slavery and made abolitionists angry in the extreme. The mistake of the Scott's was to not sue for freedom while they were still north of the Compromise line. The Supreme court's decision is oft viewed as the worrst reached by the court. The country was further divided by the debate over whether Compromise Line was still practical. The civil war broke out less than 5 years later however, its coming was exacerbated by the Dred Scott case.
