dittodat

in 1857, northerners who opposed slavery received another shock when the supreme court ruled against a slave named dred scott who was suing for his freedom. scott's owners had brought him with them from the south to a northern free state to live. the court declared that it did not matter whether scott lived in a slave state or a free state, because slaves were property and owners could take their property wherever they pleased.

most southerners were happy with the ruling, which meant that slavery could be extended into any territory, whether voters approved of it or not.

dred scott and his family, pictured in a newspaper article about the case. image

it was an idea romanticized by some americans. the woman represents "american progress" leading settlers toward land and success. the print shows the stagecoaches once used to transport mail and passengers, the railroads that replaced them, and the "prairie schooner" wagons in which pioneers traveled with their belongings. the open landscape was originally home to indians and the buffalo they hunted, but settlers had arrived to farm the land. image

it allows you to change its app icon to celebrate instagram's tenth birthday.

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here's an example of how it works.