Question

which statement in the passage best reflects sumner’s opinion of the dred scott decision?
“i speak what cannot be denied”
“the judgment was sustained by a falsification of history.”
“the opinion was more thoroughly abominable than anything in... history”

“i speak what cannot be denied when i declare that the opinion of the chief justice in the case of dred scott was more thoroughly abominable than anything of the kind in the history of courts. judicial baseness reached its lowest point on that occasion. you have not forgotten that terrible decision where a most unrighteous judgment was sustained by a falsification of history.”

• charles sumner 1865

Explanation:

To determine which statement reflects Sumner's opinion of the Dred Scott decision, we analyze the options. The quote from Sumner (bottom text) says the opinion was "more thoroughly abominable than anything of the kind in the history of courts" and the decision was "sustained by a falsification of history". The third option ("The opinion was more thoroughly abominable than anything in... history") matches this criticism. The first option is a general statement about speaking, not about the decision's merit. The second option says the judgment was sustained by history, which contradicts Sumner's view (he says it was sustained by falsifying history).

Answer:

The option: "The opinion was more thoroughly abominable than anything in... history" (the third circular option in the top part of the image)