AP US History · Causation
Which recent constitutional development most strongly reinforced the national-citizenship premise behind Douglass’s argument?
Frederick Douglass, 1869
Speaking in 1869 amid debate over Chinese immigration, Frederick Douglass argued that the United States should admit people regardless of race or national origin and permit them to become fully American. He rejected the idea that national strength required racial uniformity and connected immigration to a broader principle of equal human rights.
Adapted from Frederick Douglass, “Our Composite Nationality,” 1869.
Which recent constitutional development most strongly reinforced the national-citizenship premise behind Douglass’s argument?
Answer and explanation
Answer: C: The Fourteenth Amendment’s definition of national citizenship and guarantee of equal protection
Douglass's claim assumes that people can belong to a single national community with equal rights. The Fourteenth Amendment, ratified in 1868, made national citizenship explicit and guaranteed equal protection, reinforcing that premise, so C is correct. Choice A is tempting because the Fifteenth Amendment is also Reconstruction-era, but it addresses voting rights, not the broader definition of citizenship. Choice B, the Tenth Amendment, reserves powers to the states and supplies no national-citizenship principle. Choice D, the Twelfth Amendment, only revises how presidential elections work.
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