Curtis’ dissent held that native-born free black state citizens were U.S. citizens

Evidence

Justice Curtis offered a more thorough analysis, one that aligned directly with the arguments that had been made in the colored conventions: “The free native-born citizens of each State are citizens of the United States [and] as free colored persons born within some of the States are citizens of those States, such persons are also citizens of the United States.” Theoretically then, absent any showing that he was not a citizen of Missouri, Scott should be assumed to be a citizen of the United States with a right to bring suit in its courts. As for men like Frederick Douglass, those deemed citizens of the states in which they resided, as Douglass was in New York, were citizens of the United States by virtue of birth. — Nikole Hannah-Jones et al., The 1619 Project, 719

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the broader 1619 reframing thesis: the dissenting justices’ reasoning tracks the colored conventions’ argument that birthright confers citizenship, which later becomes the basis of the 14th Amendment.