The Dred Scott decision, issued by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1857, had a significant and contentious outcome. The Court ruled that Dred Scott, an enslaved African American, was not a citizen and therefore had no right to sue in federal court. Additionally, the Court declared that Congress lacked the authority to restrict slavery in the territories, effectively nullifying the Missouri Compromise and escalating tensions between free and slave states. This decision intensified the national debate over slavery and contributed to the rise of the abolitionist movement, ultimately leading toward the Civil War and the fight for civil rights.