The Dred Scott Decision and its Controversial Impact on Slavery and Citizenship

The Dred Scott decision, a controversial ruling by Chief Justice Roger Tawney, declared that black people cannot be citizens due to their race, which was widely denounced and ignored at the time. Many states continued to allow black men to vote despite the ruling. The decision was viewed as just someone's opinion, as even Abraham Lincoln quoted Andrew Jackson to emphasize that everyone can interpret the Constitution for themselves. However, when Lincoln became president, Tawney ruled against him when Lincoln's army refused to release a man arrested for sabotaging railroad bridges in Maryland.