The passage provides information sufficient to answer which one of the following questions?

Shiyi-Zhang on February 22, 2019

Why is D incorrect?

Why is D incorrect?

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Ravi on February 22, 2019

@Shiyi-Zhang,

Happy to help.

The question says, "The passage provides information sufficient to
answer which one of the following questions?"

You asked why (D) is incorrect, so let's take a look.

(D) says, "Are there textual ambiguities in the Fourteenth Amendment
that spurred the conflict over U.S. citizenship for African
Americans?"

It's important to keep in mind not to bring any outside knowledge you
know into your answering of this question. The only information you
should use to answer the question is information that is contained
within the passage. Based on what the passage says, the 14th amendment
did not genuinely resolve the issue of citizenship for African
Americans (lines 11-14), but we're never told why this is the case.
Was it unclear wording? Was it not enforceable? We don't have any idea
of whether or not there were textual ambiguities in the 14th amendment
based on the information we have in the passage, so we can get rid of
this answer choice since the passage doesn't provide us with
information sufficient to answer the question (D) provides.

(E) says, "In what ways did African American leaders respond to the
question of citizenship for African Americans in the latter part of
the nineteenth century?"

In lines 18-21, the second paragraph of the passage says, "While some
black leaders insisted on their right to U.S. citizenship, others
called on black people to emigrate and find a homeland of their own."
This text provides support for answering the question (E) poses, as it
shows different ways that African American leaders responded to the
question of citizenship for blacks in the latter part of the 19th
century. Thus, (E) is the correct answer choice.

Does this make sense? Let us know if you have any more questions!

Shiyi-Zhang on February 22, 2019

If the 14th Amendment defined citizenship, doesn't that mean that there is no textual ambiguities?

Ravi on February 22, 2019

@Shiyi-Zhang,

Good question. Not necessarily. It's entirely possible that the 14th
amendment could define citizenship, but there still could be textual
ambiguities. Think about it. This is what many lawyers do. They argue
about ambiguities in laws and statues to try to prove their cases. All
we know is that the 14th amendment defined citizenship, but we don't
know how well or how poorly it defined it.

Does this make sense? Let us know if you have any other questions!