The Taney Court refers to the
Supreme Court of the United States from 1836 to 1864, when
Roger Taney served as the fifth
Chief Justice of the United States. Taney succeeded
John Marshall as Chief Justice after Marshall's death in 1835. Taney served as Chief Justice until his death in 1864, at which point
Salmon P. Chase took office. Taney had been an important member of
Andrew Jackson's administration, an advocate of
Jacksonian democracy, and had played a major role in the
Bank War, during which Taney wrote a memo questioning the Supreme Court's power of judicial review.[1] However, the Taney Court did not strongly break from the decisions and precedents of the Marshall Court, as it continued to uphold a strong federal government with an independent judiciary.[2] Most of the Taney Court's
holdings are overshadowed by the decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford, in which the court ruled that
African-Americans could not be
citizens.[3] However, the Taney Court's decisions regarding economic issues and
separation of powers set important precedents, and the Taney Court has been lauded for its ability to adapt regulatory law to a country undergoing remarkable technological and economic progress.[4]
Taney was appointed Chief Justice by President
Andrew Jackson, who filled a vacancy caused by the death of Chief Justice John Marshall in 1835. Jackson had previously nominated Taney to fill a vacancy caused by the retirement of
Gabriel Duvall, but Taney's appointment for that seat was not voted on by the Senate. Duvall's seat was instead filled by
Philip P. Barbour in 1836. After the confirmation of Barbour, the Taney Court consisted of Taney, Barbour, and five Associate Justices from the Marshall Court:
Joseph Story,
Smith Thompson,
John McLean,
Henry Baldwin, and
James Moore Wayne. Jackson appointed
John Catron to the bench in 1837 after Congress increased the size of the Supreme Court to nine seats. The same year, President
Martin Van Buren filled the other newly created seat with the appointment
John McKinley. Van Buren also appointed
Peter Vivian Daniel in 1841 after the death of Barbour. Thompson died in 1843, but President
John Tyler was
unsuccessful in his attempts to fill the seat. However, Tyler was able to nominate
Samuel Nelson right before leaving office, and soon after, President
James K. Polk successfully nominated
Levi Woodbury a short time after taking office, replacing Thompson and Story. Polk also appointed
Robert Cooper Grier, replacing Baldwin; the vacancy caused by Baldwin's death is the longest in Supreme Court history.[5]
Millard Fillmore appointed
Benjamin Curtis to replace Woodbury in 1851; Curtis is the only
Whig-appointed Justice in American history and is the last justice who was not appointed by a member of the Democratic or Republican parties. President
Franklin Pierce appointed
John Archibald Campbell in 1853, replacing McKinley. Curtis resigned from the court following the 1857 Dred Scott decision, and President
James Buchanan appointed
Nathan Clifford as his replacement. At the start of the
Civil War, Campbell resigned from the court to serve as a
Confederate official. McLean and Daniel also died around the same time. In 1862, President
Abraham Lincoln appointed
Noah Haynes Swayne (the first Republican-appointed justice in history),
Samuel Freeman Miller,
David Davis to replace them. Lincoln also appointed
Stephen Johnson Field to a newly created seat. Taney died in 1864, and Lincoln appointed
Salmon P. Chase as the new Chief Justice. The Taney Court is notable for its long vacancies, as the three longest vacancies in court history all occurred during Taney's tenure as Chief Justice.[5]
Timeline
Note: +denotes new seat
Bar key:
Madison appointee Monroe appointee Jackson appointee Van Buren appointee Tyler appointee Polk appointee Fillmore appointee Pierce appointee Buchanan appointee Lincoln appointee
The Taney Court issued several major rulings during its tenure, including:[6]
Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge (1837): In a decision delivered by Chief Justice Taney, the court upheld Massachusetts's granting of a charter to construct a bridge over the
Charles River. The plaintiff,
Charles River Bridge Company, owned another bridge on the river, and sued the state, arguing that Massachusetts was breaking a charter it had given the plaintiff in the 18th century. The court held that there was no violation of the
Contract Clause, and also set an important precedent for a state's ability to promote the general welfare of its people.[7]
Luther v. Borden (1849): In a decision written by Chief Justice Taney, the court refused to intervene in the
Dorr Rebellion. The plaintiffs alleged that Rhode Island's government violated the
Guarantee Clause because it was not republican in nature. The court held that the case was a
non-justiciablepolitical question, and that it is Congress's role to determine whether a state's government qualifies as "republican."[8]
Cooley v. Board of Wardens (1852): In a decision delivered by Justice Curtis, the court upheld a Pennsylvania law requiring vessels leaving
Philadelphia to use a local pilot or pay a fine. In the decision, the court set an important precedent regarding the
Commerce Clause, charting a middle course between federal and state power. The decision gave states the ability to make some laws affecting interstate commerce, using a balancing test to determine whether state interests outweighed federal interests in uniform laws.[9]
Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857): In a 7–2 decision in which all nine justices wrote an opinion, Chief Justice Taney wrote the majority opinion. The court dismissed the plaintiff's suit, and held that the plaintiff remained a slave of the defendant. More importantly, the court also declared that no
African-Americans (including
free blacks) qualified as citizens of the United States, and that Congress did not have the power to ban slavery from the
territories. The decision was strongly condemned by opponents of
slavery, and was largely overturned by the
Fourteenth Amendment.
Ableman v. Booth (1859): In a unanimous decision written by Chief Justice Taney, the court held that federal courts have final say over issues of federal law, and thus state courts have no right to nullify federal court decisions regarding federal law.
Allen, Austin (2010). Origins of the Dred Scott Case: Jacksonian Jurisprudence and the Supreme Court, 1837-1857. University of Georgia Press.
ISBN9780820336640.
Huebner, Timothy S. (2010). "Roger Taney and the Slavery Issue: Looking Beyond—and Before—Dred Scott". Journal of American History. 97 (1): 39–62.
doi:
10.2307/jahist/97.1.17.
JSTOR40662816.
Huebner, Timothy S. (2003). The Taney Court, Justice Rulings and Legacy. ABC-CLIO.
ISBN1-57607-368-8.
Maltz, Earl M. (2009). Slavery and the Supreme Court, 1825-1861. University Press of Kansas.
ISBN9780700616664.
Simon, James F. (2006). Lincoln and Chief Justice Taney: Slavery, Secession, and the President's War Powers (Paperback ed.). Simon & Schuster.
ISBN0-7432-9846-2.
Streichler, Stuart (2005). Justice Curtis in the Civil War Era: At the Crossroads of American Constitutionalism. University of Virginia Press.
ISBN9780813923420.
Other relevant works
Abraham, Henry Julian (2008). Justices, Presidents, and Senators: A History of the U.S. Supreme Court Appointments from Washington to Bush II. Rowman & Littlefield.
ISBN9780742558953.
Hall, Kermit L.; Ely, James W. Jr.; Grossman, Joel B., eds. (2005). The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press.
ISBN9780195176612.
Hall, Kermit L.; Ely, James W. Jr., eds. (2009). The Oxford Guide to United States Supreme Court Decisions (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press.
ISBN978-0195379396.
Hall, Timothy L. (2001). Supreme Court Justices: A Biographical Dictionary. Infobase Publishing.
ISBN9781438108179.
Hoffer, Peter Charles; Hoffer, WilliamJames Hull; Hull, N. E. H. (2018). The Supreme Court: An Essential History (2nd ed.). University Press of Kansas.
ISBN978-0-7006-2681-6.