The Fourteenth Amendment was meant to overturn the Dred Scott v. Sandford ruling in 1857. This case was believed to be one of the Court's biggest errors. Dred Scott was born into slavery. He argued that he should be granted liberty because he lived in free states with his masters and had become a U.S. citizen in Missouri. The case ruled that African Americans, either free or enslaved, were not citizens and thence could not sue in court.