Question

Read the passage from the opinion of the court in

Dred Scott v Sandford, written by Justice Taney.
The question then arises, whether the provisions of
the Constitution, in relation to the personal rights and
privileges to which the citizen of a State should be
entitled, embraced the negro African race, at that time
in this country, or who might afterwards be imported,
who had then or should afterwards be made free in
any State, and to put it in the power of a single State
to make him a citizen of the United States, and endue
him with the full rights of citizenship in every other
State without their consent? Does the Constitution of
the United States act upon him whenever he shall be
made free under the laws of a State, and raised there
to the rank of a citizen, and immediately clothe him
with all the privileges of a citizen in every other State,
and in its own courts?
Mark this and return
19
Why is Justice Taney's argument ineffective?
O He uses the freedom of African Americans as
evidence.
O He uses a previous status of African Americans as
evidence.
O He uses the dissenting argument of the court as
evidence.
O He uses the ruling of the previous court as
evidence.

Answer 1

B) He uses a previous status of African Americans as evidence.

Step-by-step explanation:

In a 7 to 2 ruling, the Court concluded that African Americans were not and could not become U.S. citizens. As a result, Scott's suit in federal court would be ineffective. Many people think that the ruling, which led to a debate that brought the country closer to civil war, was one of the worst decisions in Supreme Court history.