In a monumental blow to freedom, the Supreme Court of the United States dealt a devastating verdict on March 6, 1857, when Chief Justice Roger Taney ruled that African Americans, free or enslaved, were not American citizens and had no right to sue in court. In the landmark Dred Scott v. Sandford case, the Court's 7-2 ruling sent shockwaves across the nation, further entrenching the institution of slavery and cementing racial segregation. The decision sparked intense controversy, fueling the abolitionist movement and setting the stage for the Civil War.