Free does not denote citizenship, which the civil rights act of 1866 granted...
Why would they grant citizenship legally if being free means the same thing...?
Acts of Congress alter the meaning of the constitution all the time...
You have to have room temperature IQ to think congress doesn’t....
“Free does not denote citizenship, which the civil rights act of 1866 granted...”
If that were the case, then why the 14th amendment?
“The 14th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified on July 9, 1868, and granted citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States,” which included former slaves recently freed.”