TheTaney Court refers to theSupreme Court of the United States from 1836 to 1864, whenRoger Taney served as the fifthChief Justice of the United States. Taney succeededJohn Marshall as Chief Justice after Marshall's death in 1835. Taney served as Chief Justice until his death in 1864, at which pointSalmon P. Chase took office. Taney had been an important member ofAndrew Jackson's administration, an advocate ofJacksonian democracy, and had played a major role in theBank 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'sholdings are overshadowed by the decision inDred Scott v. Sandford, in which the court ruled thatAfrican-Americans could not becitizens.[3] However, the Taney Court's decisions regarding economic issues andseparation 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 PresidentAndrew 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 ofGabriel Duvall, but Taney's appointment for that seat was not voted on by the Senate. Duvall's seat was instead filled byPhilip 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, andJames Moore Wayne. Jackson appointedJohn Catron to the bench in 1837 after Congress increased the size of the Supreme Court to nine seats. The same year, PresidentMartin Van Buren filled the other newly created seat with the appointmentJohn McKinley. Van Buren also appointedPeter Vivian Daniel in 1841 after the death of Barbour. Thompson died in 1843, but PresidentJohn Tyler wasunsuccessful in his attempts to fill the seat. However, Tyler was able to nominateSamuel Nelson right before leaving office, and soon after, PresidentJames K. Polk successfully nominatedLevi Woodbury a short time after taking office, replacing Thompson and Story. Polk also appointedRobert Cooper Grier, replacing Baldwin; the vacancy caused by Baldwin's death is the longest in Supreme Court history.[5]
Millard Fillmore appointedBenjamin Curtis to replace Woodbury in 1851; Curtis is the onlyWhig-appointed Justice in American history and is the last justice who was not appointed by a member of the Democratic or Republican parties. PresidentFranklin Pierce appointedJohn Archibald Campbell in 1853, replacing McKinley. Curtis resigned from the court following the 1857Dred Scott decision, and PresidentJames Buchanan appointedNathan Clifford as his replacement. At the start of theCivil War, Campbell resigned from the court to serve as aConfederate official. McLean and Daniel also died around the same time. In 1862, PresidentAbraham Lincoln appointedNoah Haynes Swayne (the first Republican-appointed justice in history),Samuel Freeman Miller,David Davis to replace them. Lincoln also appointedStephen Johnson Field to a newly created seat. Taney died in 1864, and Lincoln appointedSalmon 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]
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 theCharles 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 theContract 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 theDorr Rebellion. The plaintiffs alleged that Rhode Island's government violated theGuarantee Clause because it was not republican in nature. The court held that the case was anon-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 leavingPhiladelphia to use a local pilot or pay a fine. In the decision, the court set an important precedent regarding theCommerce 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 noAfrican-Americans (includingfree blacks) qualified as citizens of the United States, and that Congress did not have the power to ban slavery from theterritories. The decision was strongly condemned by opponents ofslavery, and was largely overturned by theFourteenth 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.
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.
