History of the Supreme Court of the United States

The Taney Period, 1836-1864, by Carl B. Swisher, is the fifth volume of the Oliver Wendell Holmes Devise History of the Supreme Court of the United States. The volume opens with Roger B. Taney’s appointment as chief justice of the Court, describing the Taney Court and its personnel. Later chapters offer a comprehensive analysis of the leading constitutional issues addressed by the United States Supreme Court during this period. Swisher covers the Taney Court’s decisions on commerce power, admiralty and maritime jurisdiction, the rights of corporations, patent rights and free enterprise, and legal decisions relating to slavery, including a detailed analysis of the Dred Scott decision and its aftermath. The volume ends with the close of the Taney Period, which coincided with cases and constitutional issues related to the Civil War, including Lincoln’s appointments to the Supreme Court, Northern nullification, and wartime curtailment of civil rights.