Jeremiah Sullivan Black - PLAQUE
Stonycreek Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Birthplace of Jeremiah Sullivan Black, 10th January, 1810, President Judge, Sixteenth Penna. Judicial District, 1842-1851, Associate Justice and Chief Justice of Penna. 1851-57, Attorney General of the United States 1857-1860, Secretary of State of the U.S. 1860-1861. Fearless and eloquent defender of constitutional rights, of trial by jury, and of civil and religious liberty until his death, 19th August, 1883. "To live unmolested is not a political privilege, but a natural, absolute and indefeasible right, which human government may protect, but cannot either give or withhold." From his address on religious liberty.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
This marker honors Jeremiah Sullivan Black, born here in 1810, who rose from a Pennsylvania judgeship to become Chief Justice of the state's Supreme Court and then Attorney General and Secretary of State of the United States under President James Buchanan on the eve of the Civil War. A formidable legal mind, he was remembered as an eloquent champion of trial by jury and of civil and religious liberty. The plaque quotes his conviction that liberty is "a natural, absolute and indefeasible right."
Why it matters
Black's career bridged the antebellum bench and the national government during the secession crisis, and his defense of constitutional and religious freedom left a lasting mark on American legal thought.
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Related people
- · Jeremiah Sullivan Black
- · James Buchanan
Themes & tags
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