All Men Created Equal

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Negroes were not entitled to the same rights
because they were not legally citizens of the United States of America. This
issue was dealt with in the ruling of the Dredd Scott case. Lincoln points out
that the ruling of the case was based on historical fact that was wrongly
assumed. Judge Taney, who presided over the case stated that "Negroes were no
part of the people who made, or for whom was made, the Declaration of
Independence, or the Constitution of the United States." This statement was
later refuted by Judge Curtis who shows that "in five of the then thirteen
states…free negroes were voters, and, in proportion to their numbers, had the
same part in making the Constitution that the white people had." The fact that
Negroes were citizens who participated in the framing of the Constitution gave
them the same freedoms as the white men who helped shape the American ideals
classifying the Negro as a "citizen."

The strongest persuasion that Abraham could have possibly ...

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