In the Dred Scott decision, Supreme Court
Justice Taney argued that African Americans
were

Taney, declared that all colored -- slaves as well as freed -- were not and could never  become citizens of the United States. The court also declared the 1820 Missouri Compromise unconstitutional, thus permiting slavery in all of the country's territories

an economic reason that the south needed a reconstruction plan is that plantations, factories, and other businesses were destroyed during the war.