The outcome of the Dred Scott case in the United States was a landmark Supreme Court decision issued in 1857 that ruled African American slaves, and their descendants, were not citizens and therefore had no legal rights to sue in federal court. The Court, led by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, declared that Congress did not have the authority to prohibit slavery in the territories, effectively nullifying the Missouri Compromise. This decision intensified national divisions over slavery, escalating tensions that would contribute to the Civil War. It is often cited as one of the most controversial Supreme Court rulings in American history.