Elizabeth Ann Seton (1774-1821) becomes the first person born in the United States canonized as a Roman Catholic saint in 1975. Seton is the founder of the nation’s first parochial school system, establishing a Catholic girls school in Emmitsburg along with a congregation of Sisters of Charity.
Marylander Roger B. Taney hands down the Dred Scott decision.
Roger Taney, Maryland native and Supreme Court Chief Justice, delivers 7-2 opinion in 1857, in the Dred Scott case, declaring that Blacks in the US are not considered citizens nor entitled to government protection, and that Congress cannot prohibit slavery. The decision becomes a major factor leading to the Civil War.
