What 1857 Supreme Court decision ruled that African Americans could not be citizens?

The 1857 Supreme Court decision that declared African Americans could not be citizens was *Dred Scott v. Sandford*. This landmark case centered on Dred Scott, an enslaved man who sued for his freedom after living with his owner in both free states and territories where slavery was prohibited by the Missouri Compromise. Scott argued that his residence in these free areas made him a free man.

However, the Supreme Court, in a 7-2 decision, ruled against Scott. Chief Justice Roger B. Taney delivered the majority opinion, asserting that African Americans, whether enslaved or free, were not and could never be citizens of the United States. This meant they had no standing to sue in federal court and were not entitled to the rights and privileges afforded to citizens under the Constitution. Taney's opinion also controversially declared that the Missouri Compromise, which had sought to regulate the expansion of slavery into new territories, was unconstitutional, further escalating tensions over slavery.

The Dred Scott decision is widely considered one of the worst in the Supreme Court's history due to its overt racism and poor legal reasoning. It intensified the national debate over slavery, essentially nationalizing the institution and undermining efforts to limit its spread. The ruling deeply angered abolitionists and many in the North, contributing significantly to the growing sectional divide that ultimately led to the American Civil War. The decision's assertions regarding African American citizenship were eventually overturned by the 13th and 14th Amendments to the Constitution, enacted after the Civil War, which abolished slavery and granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States.