Origins & Early Life

Roger Brooke Taney ( TAW-nee; March 17, 1777 – October 12, 1864) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the fifth chief justice of the United States from 1836 until his death in 1864. Prior to joining the U.S. Supreme Court, Taney served as the U.S. attorney general and U.S.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

secretary of the treasury under President Andrew Jackson. Taney's legacy is chiefly defined by the majority opinion he wrote in Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857), which ruled that African Americans could not be considered U.S. citizens and that Congress could not prohibit slavery in the U.S. territories.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

Taney was born into a wealthy, slave-owning family in Calvert County, Maryland. He won election to the Maryland House of Delegates as a member of the Federalist Party but later broke with the party over the War of 1812. After switching to the Democratic-Republican Party, Taney was elected to the Maryland Senate in 1816. He emerged as one of the most prominent attorneys in the state and was appointed as the Attorney General of Maryland in 1827. Taney supported Andrew Jackson's presidential campaigns in 1824 and 1828, and he became a member of Jackson's Democratic Party. After a cabinet shake-up in 1831...

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