Question

“When the Constitution was adopted, they were not regarded in any of the States as members of the community which constituted the State, and were not numbered among its "people or citizens." Consequently, the special rights and immunities guaranteed to citizens do not apply to them.”

- Dred Scott decision
1857

In this quote, who are “they”?
A. Republicans
B. slaveholders
C. African Americans

And according to the passage, African Americans could not be what?

Answer 1

C. African Americans.

African Americans could not be regarded as citizens or people of the state/ country.

Step-by-step explanation:

The 1857 Dred Scott v. Sandford Supreme Court decision involved Dred Scott, a slave who had been taken to a slave-free state of Illinois and the Wisconsin area and then brought back again to his master's old state in Missouri. Claiming that he deserved to be deemed a free man, the court decided that the move did not mean he is free.

Pertaining to this case, the Supreme Court decided that no slave, meaning no African American can be given legal citizenship status. This means that an African American cannot become a citizen of the state he resides in.