The first major U.S. Supreme Court case to address civil rights issues was Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857). In this landmark decision, the Court ruled that African Americans, whether enslaved or free, could not be considered American citizens and therefore had no standing to sue in federal court. The decision also declared the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional, inflaming tensions between free and slave states. Dred Scott v. Sandford not only intensified the national debate over slavery but also contributed to the escalation of sectional conflict, eventually leading to the Civil War. The ruling is often cited as one of the worst in Supreme Court history.