Though Buchanan promised to “cheerfully submit” to whatever the court decided, in fact he had secretly helped shape the court’s deliberations and knew the overall content of Taney’s opinion even before delivering his inaugural speech. Buchanan himself considered slavery to be a “moral evil” and claimed to be glad to live in a state that did not permit it; but he had no objection to Southerners’ holding slaves and blamed abolitionists for making slavery such a contentious issue. He hoped Taney’s decision would at last end the slavery debate.
