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He was largely self-educated, and before he was of age was admitted to the Pennsylvania bar. He gradually became one of the leading American lawyers, and from 1851 to 1857 was a member of the supreme court of Pennsylvania, serving as Chief Justice from 1851 to 1854. In 1857 he entered President James Buchanan's cabinet as Attorney General of the United States. In this capacity he successfully contested the validity of the California land claims claims to about 19,000 square miles (49,000 km²) of land, fraudulently alleged to have been granted to land-grabbers and others by the Mexican government prior to the close of the Mexican War. From December 17, 1860 to March 4, 1861 he was U.S. Secretary of State. Perhaps the most influential of President Buchanan's official advisers, he denied the constitutionality of secessionSecession is the act of withdrawing from an organization or union, used particularly in the case of the Southern states of the United States seceding prior to the American Civil War. A "reverse" secession of sorts happened at this time when the northweste, and urged that Fort SumterFort Sumter located in Charleston, South Carolina harbor, was named after General Thomas Sumter. However, the fort is perhaps best known as the site where, according to tradition, the first shots of the United States Civil War were fired. In fact, Souther be properly reinforced and defended.
President James Buchanan nominated him for a seat on the Supreme CourtThe Supreme Court of the United States located in Washington, D. is the highest court (see supreme court) in the United States; that is, it has ultimate judicial authority within the United States to interpret and decide questions of federal law. It is he, but his nomination was defeated in the SenateJustices of the Supreme Court of the United States are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Sometimes, the President's choice for the court is rejected by the Senate, sometimes they withdraw under pressure, and sometimes the nominee dec by a single vote on February 21February 21 is the 52nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 313 days remaining, 314 in leap years. Events 362 Athanasius returns to Alexandria 1431 The trial of Joan of Arc begins. 1743 The premiere in London of George Frideric Handel's o, 1861. He became reporter of decisionsThe Reporter of Decisions of the United States Supreme Court is the official charged with editing and publishing the Court's decisions both when announced and in the bound volumes of the United States Reports''. The first two reporters acted in an unoffic to the Supreme Court of the United StatesThe Supreme Court of the United States located in Washington, D. is the highest court (see supreme court) in the United States; that is, it has ultimate judicial authority within the United States to interpret and decide questions of federal law. It is he in 1861, but after publishing the reports for the years 1861 and 1862 he resigned, and devoted himself almost exclusively to his private practic e, appearing in such important cases before the Supreme Court as the one known as Ex Parte Milligan, in which he ably defended the right of trial by jury, the McCardle case and the United States v. Blyew et al.
After the American Civil War he vigorously opposed the Congressional plan of Reconstruction and drafted President Andrew Johnson's message vetoing the Reconstruction Act of the March 2, 1867. Black was also for a short time counsel for President Johnson, in his trial on the article of impeachment, before the United States Senate, and for William W. Belknap, United States Secretary of War from 1869 to 1876, who in 1876 was impeached on a charge of corruption; and with others he represented Samuel J. Tilden during the contest for the presidency between Tilden and Rutherford B. Hayes. He died at Brockie, Pennsylvania in 1883.