Which Chief Justice decided that slaves are considered property in the Dred Scott case?

The particular Chief Justice who decided that slaves are considered property in the Dred Scott case is Roger Taney. In the landmark decision of 1857, Taney and the Supreme Court ruled that Dred Scott, an enslaved man who had lived in free territories, was not a citizen and therefore had no right to sue in federal court. This ruling was grounded in the belief that African Americans were not included in the list of people who could claim citizenship and, thus, asserted that slaves were property under the Fifth Amendment. This decision intensified national tensions over slavery and contributed to the events leading up to the Civil War.

The other figures listed, such as William Howard Taft, John Marshall, and Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., were influential in their own rights, but they were not involved in the Dred Scott case. Taft served later than the Dred Scott decision; Marshall was Chief Justice before Taney and was known for establishing many constitutional principles; and Holmes engaged in legal opinions long after the Dred Scott ruling.