Trump v. Barbara · ¶27

In the odious decision of Dred Scott v. Sandford, this Court imposed the Southern States’ beliefs onto the Nation. 19 How. 393. Chief Justice Taney, writing for the Court, concluded that “the words ‘people of the United States’ and ‘citizen[s]’” had an unexpressed (and atextual) racial component—one that excluded all those descended from slaves. Id., at 419. Even if Massachusetts or Connecticut chose to grant citizenship to the freedmen, they still could not participate in national affairs. See id., at 422–423. They were “born in the country,” Chief Justice Taney acknowledged, and thus “did owe allegiance to the Government”—the precise criteria for citizenship at common law. Id., at 420. But they were “not included, and were not intended to be included, under the word ‘citizens’ in the Constitution.” Id., at 404. For them, blood, not soil, was made the rule. Dred Scott was met with…

slip opinion, revised 7/01/26
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