What was the Dred Scott decision of 1857 primarily about?

The Dred Scott decision of 1857 is primarily understood as a landmark Supreme Court ruling in which the court determined that enslaved individuals were not considered citizens under U.S. law. This ruling specifically denied Dred Scott, an enslaved man who had sued for his freedom based on his residence in a free state, the right to bring his case to court. The court's majority opinion asserted that as a person of African descent, Scott was part of a subordinate and inferior class that had no rights which white people were bound to respect. This decision not only reinforced the legal standing of slavery in the United States but also invalidated the Missouri Compromise, which had attempted to restrict the expansion of slavery into certain territories. The implications of this ruling fueled tensions between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions, contributing significantly to the sectional conflicts leading up to the Civil War.