Missouri HCR 86: Formally denounces the infamous Dred Scott decision.

Bill Text

SECOND REGULAR SESSION
House Concurrent Resolution No. 86
99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE MOON.
5267H.03I D. ADAM CRUMBLISS, Chief Clerk
WHEREAS, Missouri was part of the 1803 Louisiana Purchase and became a state in
2 1821; and
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4 WHEREAS, the terms of Missouri’s statehood included that Missouri would be the only
5 state north of the Mason-Dixon line that was a slave state; and
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7 WHEREAS, the tensions in the nation regarding racial equality, or lack thereof, have
8 played out in profound ways in the state of Missouri; and
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10 WHEREAS, St. Louis, being situated on the Mississippi River, was uniquely positioned
11 to be a destination for the slave trade; and
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13 WHEREAS, tensions of human inequality are profoundly apparent in the history of the
14 state; and
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16 WHEREAS, when persons with African ancestry in Missouri sued for their freedom,
17 such freedom was routinely granted; and
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19 WHEREAS, the tension in the nation over the issue of slavery and human inequality
20 resulted in Dred and Harriet Scott, persons with African ancestry, being denied freedom in this
21 state in a decision by a St. Louis court on January 12, 1850, and such decision was affirmed by
22 the United States Supreme Court on March 22, 1857; and
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24 WHEREAS, the Dred Scott decision is a negative legacy for this state and antithetical
25 to the nation’s founding values, specifically the tenet that all men are created equal; and
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27 WHEREAS, all political power is vested in and derived from the people, under God; and

HCR 86 2
28 WHEREAS, all government of right originates from the people, is founded upon their
29 will only, and is instituted solely for the good of the whole; and
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31 WHEREAS, all constitutional government is intended to promote the general welfare
32 of all people; and
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34 WHEREAS, all persons have a natural right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness;
35 and
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37 WHEREAS, no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without the due
38 process of law; and
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40 WHEREAS, all human beings are created equal and are entitle to equal rights and
41 opportunity under the law; and
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43 WHEREAS, Missouri will never again deny legal protection to a class of human beings
44 on the grounds that they are less than human; and
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46 WHEREAS, it is time to draw a line between Missouri’s history which encompassed
47 such inhumane and unfair treatment to our citizens, and the present and future Missouri which
48 aims to be a place of equal treatment for all:
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50 NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the members of the House of
51 Representatives of the Ninety-ninth General Assembly, Second Regular Session, the Senate
52 concurring therein, hereby condemn the Dred Scott decision of 1850.
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54 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Chief Clerk of the Missouri House of
55 Representatives be instructed to prepare a properly inscribed copy of this resolution for the
56 Governor, the Clerk of the Supreme Court of Missouri, the justices of the Supreme Court of
57 Missouri, and the members of the Missouri congressional delegation.