Trump v. Barbara · ¶158

That is why, when Dred Scott went to court, he argued that to be a “citizen,” “it is only necessary that he should have acquired a domicil.” Brief for Plaintiff in Dred Scott v. Sandford, D. T. 1855, No. 7, p. 6. (Brief for Dred Scott). After this Court held that Scott was not a citizen because he was black, Republicans in Congress, such as Representative John Bingham, stated that a person was a citizen if he was “born and domiciled” in the United States. Cong. Globe, 35th Cong., 2d Sess., 983 (1859). Scott was a citizen, in their view, because he was born to Americans, not to “temporary sojourners.” Cong. Globe, 35th Cong., 1st Sess., 210 (1858) (statement of Rep. Bliss). As Frederick Douglass had put it, the freedmen sought citizenship “not as aliens nor as exiles,” but as “Americans.” 2 Douglass 255 (emphasis added).

slip opinion, revised 7/01/26
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