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the constitution
the constitution was made assuming that there was citizenship in the U.S. but it didn’t come with clear rules to determine who was actually an American citizen. -
dried scott v. sanfdord
dread scott was a slave who sued his executor of his former master’s estate under the state- citizenship in the federal court. he was seeking to be free from hid master after he was voluntarily taken into free territory. the court deemed that he wasn’t considered a citizen. -
Period: to
lincoln’s administration
they took the legal position that stated that blacks were indeed American citizens. -
overturning dried scott
they declared that free black could be U.S. citizens -
before the civil war
state and national citizenship were considered controversial. state citizenship was mainly important because the gave access to the jurisdiction of the federal courts that were based off diversity. -
after the civil war
the republican party was in control of the 39th congress which restricted the rights of former slaves. they made something that was called the “black code” this declared that all persons that were born or naturalized in the U.S. were considered citizens -
the 14th amendment
it states that if you were born in America under the American flag then you are an American citizen no matter what gender, rich or poor, black or white, gay or straight, the daughter of a president or the son of an undocumented/unauthorized/illegal immigrant.