The Dred Scott case afforded the occasion for a decision.

Of the nine judges on the Supreme Bench seven were Democrats, and of these five were appointed from slave-States.

A better opportunity for the South to obtain a favorable dictum could never be expected to arise.

A declaration by the Supreme Court of the United States that under the Constitution Congress possessed no power to prohibit slavery in the Federal Territories would by a single breath end the old and begin a new political era.

Congress was in session and the political leaders were assembled at Washington.
Political topics excluded all other conversation or thought.