Analyzing a Seminal US Document

Question 1

What is the best summary of Taney’s opinion?The framers who crafted the Constitution were the most honorable men for the job.The men who wrote the Constitution understood that enslaved persons would not be citizens.The men who wrote the Constitution had a great understanding of the language they used.The framers who crafted the Constitution all believed that African Americans should be enslaved.

Revolt · Accepted Answer

B: The men who wrote the Constitution understood that enslaved persons would not be citizens.

Question 2

Which statement provides the best counterclaim to Taney’s claim?Because Dred Scott was the son of a enslaved person, he would always be considered enslaved regardless of what the courts decided.Because Dred Scott’s parents were born in a different county, Dred Scott could not be considered a citizen of the United States.Because Dred Scott lived in Wisconsin and Illinois, his freedom should have been granted without having to sue Sanford in court.Because they were born in the United States, Dred

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D: Because they were born in the United States, Dred Scott and his family were citizens and had all the rights granted by the Constitution.

Question 3

Question 3

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A: ad populum

Question 4

How does Taney use this appeal to emotion to support his argument?The appeal praises the virtues of the writers of the document Taney uses as evidence.The appeal relies on his original claim that Dred Scott is not a citizen and cannot sue in a federal court.The appeal counters Taney’s claim that people’s origins dictate their status in the community.The appeal creates doubt about the validity and soundness of the Constitution in terms of defining citizenship.

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A: The appeal praises the virtues of the writers of the document Taney uses as evidence.

Question 5

What type of fallacy or faulty reasoning is used in this passage?ad populumbegging the claimgenetic fallacyhasty generalization

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A: ad populum

Question 6

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.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.The men who wrote the Constitution made a mistake in not writing about t

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C: Because the Constitution does not explicitly exclude African Americans from citizenship, Taney is begging the claim.

Question 7

What is the best summary of Taney’s opinion?

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B: The men who wrote the Constitution understood that enslaved persons would not be citizens.

Question 8

Which statement provides the best counterclaim to Taney’s claim?

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D: Because they were born in the United States, Dred Scott and his family were citizens and had all the rights granted by the Constitution.

Question 9

What type of fallacy or faulty reasoning is used in this passage?

Revolt · Accepted Answer

A: ad populum

Question 10

How does Taney use this appeal to emotion to support his argument?

Revolt · Accepted Answer

A: The appeal praises the virtues of the writers of the document Taney uses as evidence.

Analyzing a Seminal US Document Answers

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