What effect did the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Slaughterhouse Cases have on its Dred Scott decision
Posted on : 11-11-2009 | By : Legal Information | In : Constitution/Court Decisions, Legal Articles
Tags: Amendments
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In the Dred Scott decision, the Supreme court held that citizenship of a State and citizenship of the United States were essentially the same thing. Therefore, a Negro of slave descent could not be a citizen of a State, under the Constitution of the United States (though such a person could be a citizen of a State, under the constitution of an individual State) and because of this could not be a citizen of the United States. The reason being their ancestors were not citizens of a different State (under the Articles of Confederation) when the Constitution of the United States WAS ADOPTED (See Article II, Section 5, Clause 1 “Natural Born Citizen clause”).
The Slaughterhouse Cases had the following effect on Dred Scott. In the Slaughterhouse Cases, the Supreme Court held that because of the Fourteenth Amendment, citizenship of a State and citizenship of the United States were now to be separate and distinct from each other. [Footnote] A Negro of slave descent was made, under the Fourteenth Amendment, a citizen of the United States. To become also a citizen of a State, all he or she had to do was to reside in an individual State.
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Footnote:
The reason the Supreme court held that citizenship of a State was to be separate and distinct from citizenship of the United States was because the Fourteenth Amendment does not apply to those who were born before it was adopted, that is July 28, 1868. (Note: Section 1, Clause 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment states: “All persons born in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside” and does not state: “All persons born in the United States AFTER THE ADOPTION OF THIS CONSTITUTION, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”)
Because of this, the Supreme court, in the Slaughterhouse Cases, held that because of the Fourteenth Amendment there are now two citizens under the Constitution of the United States (and not the Fourteenth Amendment), a citizen of the United States, under the Fourteenth Amendment and a citizen of the several States, under Article IV, Section 2, Clause 1. For futher information,
http://www.australia.to/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=15882 .
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