Question

Read the quotation.

[T]he legislation and histories of the times, and the language used in the Declaration of Independence, show, that neither the class of persons who had been imported as slaves, nor their descendants, whether they had become free or not, were then acknowledged as a part of the people.

— Dred Scott v. Sandford, 1857

This quotation from the Supreme Court ruling in the Scott v. Sandford case relates to the

lack of citizenship for free or enslaved African Americans.

practice of importing enslaved workers from Africa.

practice of relocating from a slave state to a free state.

right of an owner to retain his or her property.

Answer 1

A. Lack of citizenship for free or enslaved African Americans.

Just took quiz.

Answer 2

The correct answer is:

Lack of citizenship for free or enslaved African Americans.

In the Dred Scott Decision, the Supreme Court had to answer whether Congress had the power to prohibit slavery in the territories.

Chief Justice Roger B. Taney expressed the position of the court's majority, a judicial defense of the most extreme proslavery view. He stated that Dred Scott, who had sued to gain his freedom, had no right in federal court because neither slaves nor free blacks were considered citizens of the United States.