Trump v. Barbara · ¶200

Nobody disagreed with the premise that Scott was domiciled in Missouri. Black slaves and freedmen alike were unambiguously Americans. They were “not foreigners.” Cong. Globe, 39th Cong., 1st Sess., at 1160 (statement of Rep. Shellabarger). They were not “aliens.” Id., at 1117 (statement of Rep. Wilson). They “owed no foreign allegiance.” Id., at 530 (statement of Sen. Johnson); accord, Dred Scott, 19 How., at 420. It was the dissimilarity of American blacks to foreigners that Frederick Douglass emphasized in his call for recognizing the citizenship of blacks: “We address you not as aliens nor as exiles, humbly asking to be permitted to dwell among you in peace.” 2 Douglass 255 (emphasis added). Instead, “We are Americans.” Ibid. So, “speaking the same language and being of the same religion, worshipping the same God, owing our redemption to the same Savior, and learning our duties from…

slip opinion, revised 7/01/26
Source edition
Passage preview. Read in context for the complete text, notes and references.