{"id":5793,"date":"2025-02-20T17:25:05","date_gmt":"2025-02-20T17:25:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-204pinsker\/?page_id=5793"},"modified":"2025-02-20T17:38:18","modified_gmt":"2025-02-20T17:38:18","slug":"roger-taney","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-204pinsker\/course-syllabus\/roger-taney\/","title":{"rendered":"Roger Taney"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote><p>[Slavery] is a blot on our national character, and every real lover of freedom, confidently hopes that it will be effectually, though it must be gradually, wiped away; and earnestly looks for the means, by which this necessary object may best be attained. &#8211;Quoted in <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-204pinsker\/files\/2025\/01\/Huebner-article.pdf\">Timothy S. Huebner article, JAH June 2010<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Who offered this comment on slavery as a &#8220;blot on our national character&#8221;?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Roger B. Taney (1777-1864)<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-204pinsker\/files\/2025\/02\/Taney.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-5795\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-204pinsker\/files\/2025\/02\/Taney-255x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"255\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-204pinsker\/files\/2025\/02\/Taney-255x300.png 255w, https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-204pinsker\/files\/2025\/02\/Taney.png 654w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 255px) 100vw, 255px\" \/><\/a>Roger Brooke Taney, a graduate of Dickinson College, might well be the most controversial Supreme Court justice in American history. Taney served as Chief Justice of the United States for nearly thirty years, from 1835 to 1864.\u00a0 But this was a period of bitter sectional controversy over slavery, and Taney\u2019s pro-slavery decisions have since seriously tarnished his reputation.\u00a0 Originally from Maryland, Taney had been a slaveholder until he emancipated his own slaves in 1818.\u00a0 But the Border State judge considered himself a nationalist above all else, and angrily blamed abolitionists for ripping the country apart.\u00a0 So he thought he could save the union with the Dred Scott case of 1857, by rendering a sweeping pro-slavery verdict. The reaction, however, was the opposite of what Taney had expected.\u00a0 By 1860, his ruling against the Scott family had helped elect Abraham Lincoln, an anti-slavery Republican, as president. The aging chief justice then battled fiercely against the aggressive new commander in chief over war powers and other issues.\u00a0 Taney finally died at age 87, in the final months of a bloody Civil War that he had in several ways helped to ignite.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/NApFlFD4Xxs\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><em>Video produced by Sarah Goldberg (Class of 2018)<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_5801\" style=\"width: 2570px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-204pinsker\/files\/2025\/02\/Taney-statue-scaled.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5801\" class=\"size-full wp-image-5801\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-204pinsker\/files\/2025\/02\/Taney-statue-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Taney statue\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-204pinsker\/files\/2025\/02\/Taney-statue-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-204pinsker\/files\/2025\/02\/Taney-statue-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-204pinsker\/files\/2025\/02\/Taney-statue-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-204pinsker\/files\/2025\/02\/Taney-statue-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-204pinsker\/files\/2025\/02\/Taney-statue-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-204pinsker\/files\/2025\/02\/Taney-statue-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-204pinsker\/files\/2025\/02\/Taney-statue-900x675.jpg 900w, https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-204pinsker\/files\/2025\/02\/Taney-statue-1280x960.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-5801\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Taney statue in Annapolis, MD removed in 2017<\/p><\/div>\n<hr \/>\n<h2><strong>Image Gateway \u2013The Scott Family and Dickinson<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-117pinsker\/files\/2022\/11\/Screen-Shot-2022-11-07-at-8.09.59-PM.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-4636\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-117pinsker\/files\/2022\/11\/Screen-Shot-2022-11-07-at-8.09.59-PM-1024x664.png\" alt=\"Scott marker\" width=\"940\" height=\"610\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-117pinsker\/files\/2022\/11\/Screen-Shot-2022-11-07-at-8.02.50-PM.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-4628\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-117pinsker\/files\/2022\/11\/Screen-Shot-2022-11-07-at-8.02.50-PM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"668\" height=\"432\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-117pinsker\/files\/2022\/11\/Screen-Shot-2022-11-07-at-8.02.44-PM.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-4629\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-117pinsker\/files\/2022\/11\/Screen-Shot-2022-11-07-at-8.02.44-PM-300x183.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"183\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-117pinsker\/files\/2022\/11\/Screen-Shot-2022-11-07-at-8.02.36-PM.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-4630 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-117pinsker\/files\/2022\/11\/Screen-Shot-2022-11-07-at-8.02.36-PM-203x300.png\" alt=\"Leslies 1857\" width=\"203\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4641\" style=\"width: 796px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-117pinsker\/files\/2022\/11\/Screen-Shot-2022-11-07-at-8.21.14-PM.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4641\" class=\"wp-image-4641 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-117pinsker\/files\/2022\/11\/Screen-Shot-2022-11-07-at-8.21.14-PM-786x1024.png\" alt=\"Dred Scott\" width=\"786\" height=\"1024\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-4641\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dred Scott in 1857, age about 57, one year before his death<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2><strong>Teaching the Dred (and Harriet) Scott Case<\/strong><\/h2>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;Clearly, the political system was breaking down, unable to contain sectional rivalry and violence.\u00a0 Perhaps, thought Chief Justice Roger Taney, the Supreme Court could resolve once and for all the nation&#8217;s split over slavery.\u00a0 On March 6, 1857, in Dred Scott v. Sanford, a divided Supreme Court ruled on the case of a slave who argued that his residence in Illinois and the Wisconsin territory had freed him from bondage.\u00a0 The majority ruled that Scott remained a slave, that as a slave he was not a citizen and had &#8216;no rights which the white man was bound to respect,&#8217; and that the Missouri Compromise ban on slavery was unconstitutional because it deprived citizens of their property without due process of law.&#8221; &#8211;Louis Masur, The Civil War, p. 7<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;In the days after the 1856 presidential election, Buchanan made his plans for his time in office clear. He talked with Chief Justice Roger Taney on inauguration day about a court decision he hoped to see handled during his time in office. Indeed, not long after the inauguration, the Supreme Court handed down a decision that would come to define Buchanan\u2019s presidency. The Dred Scott decision, <em>Scott v. Sandford<\/em>, ruled that Black Americans could not be citizens of the United States and therefore could be transported as chattel from any state to another regardless of state law.<sup><a id=\"identifier_28_88\" class=\"footnote-link footnote-identifier-link\" title=\"Judgment in the U.S. Supreme Court Case Dred Scott v. John F.A. Sanford, March 6, 1857; Case Files 1792-1995; Record Group 267; Records of the Supreme Court of the United States; National Archives. http:\/\/www.ourdocuments.gov\/doc.php?flash=true&amp;doc=29.\" href=\"https:\/\/www.americanyawp.com\/text\/13-the-sectional-crisis\/#footnote_28_88\">29<\/a><\/sup> This gave the Buchanan administration and its southern allies a direct repudiation of the Missouri Compromise. The court ruled that Scott, a Missouri slave, had no right to sue in United States courts. The Dred Scott decision signaled that the federal government was now fully committed to extending slavery as far and as wide as it might want.&#8221; &#8212;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.americanyawp.com\/text\/13-the-sectional-crisis\/#V_From_Sectional_Crisis_to_National_Crisis\">American Yawp, Chap. 13, Sec. V<\/a><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/J0OW18pIo8c\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Featured Exhibit \u2014<a href=\"https:\/\/artsandculture.google.com\/exhibit\/SgKyzZUJr6g0JA\">Dred Scott Decision and Its Bitter Legacy (Google Arts)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[Slavery] is a blot on our national character, and every real lover of freedom, confidently hopes that it will be effectually, though it must be gradually, wiped away; and earnestly looks for the means, by which this necessary object may best be attained. &#8211;Quoted in Timothy S. Huebner article, JAH June 2010 Who offered this [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":373,"featured_media":0,"parent":13,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-5793","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-204pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-204pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-204pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-204pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/373"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-204pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5793"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-204pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5793\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-204pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/13"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-204pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}