They perfectly understood the meaning of the language they used, and how it would be understood by others; and
they knew that it would not in any part of the civilized
world be supposed to embrace the negro race, which, by
common consent, had been excluded from civilized
Governments and the family of nations, and doomed to
slavery.
-Dred Scott v. Sandford,
Supreme Court of the United States
Which statement best explains the fallacy in the
argument?
Taney is quick to assume that the writers of the US
Constitution excluded African Americans born in the
country from citizenship.
O Taney unfairly appeals to human emotion by
creating a sense of hopelessness for enslaved
persons during the time of the case.
Because the Constitution does not explicitly
exclude African Americans from citizenship, Taney
is begging the claim.
O The men who wrote the Constitution made a
mistake in not writing about the position of enslaved
people within the nation.