Roger B Taney Essay

“They [the blacks] had no rights which the man was bound to respect.” Roger B. Taney had stated. Taney was a man whose opinions mattered. Taney was appointed for Supreme Court Justice in 1835 by President Andrew Jackson. He impacted the world greatly. He was known for things that in the U.S. now we disapprove of. Taney grew up in Maryland. He lived from March 17, 1777 until October 12, 1864. His father was a plantation owner, back then plantation owners were wealthy therefore Taney grew up in a wealthy family. With his father owning the plantation, Taney never worked outside because his father owned slaves, they all worked for his dad. Taney grew up with slaves as did many other kids. Life back then was different from what we have now. While

He was put to the court because his ancestors were brought here, to be slaves. Taney in that case suggested that blacks cannot be called U.S. citizens. Taney finally pushed and made that a law. This law changed our country forever. He ruled that black people were not intended to be included in the word “citizens” in the Constitution and could claim no rights and privileges of citizenship. The U.S. changed in 1 minute. He made this a law all over the states. Blacks were not allowed to be citizens. The word citizen was meant for that whites. Taney made this important to people. He made everyone think that blacks were meant to be slaves. This is so important to the U.S. because that law pushed us forward to the civil war. Civil war was so important to America because it changed our beliefs. America has changed in the past 160 years. We went from some states being slaves states to all of them being slave to all of the slaves being free in every state. Taney’s law changed how we think and what we believed. Taney may have died 1 year before the war started, but through his lifetime pushed all of the blacks to want to be free. The war changed the rights of the blacks. When we think about black people we respect them and their rights, some may