DRED SCOTT V. SANDFORD
In Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. (19 How.) 393, 15 L. Ed. 691 (1857), the U.S. Supreme Court faced the divisive issue of SLAVERY. Chief Justice
ROGER B. TANEY, a former slaveholder, authored
the Court’s opinion, holding that the U.S. Con-
stitution permitted the unrestricted ownership
of black slaves by white U.S. citizens. In a stun-
ning 7–2 decision, the Court declared that slaves
and emancipated blacks could not be full U.S.
citizens. Any attempt by Congress to limit the
spread of slavery in U.S. territories was held to
be a direct violation of slave owners’ due process
rights.
Chief Justice Taney’s opinion fueled the
nineteenth-century abolitionist movement and
helped push the United States toward civil war.
Although Taney was an accomplished jurist who
served as chief justice for 29 years, his record was
permanently tarnished by what many consid-
ered to be his flawed reasoning in the Dred Scott
