The paragraph read:
“At common-law, with the nomenclature of which the framers of the Constitution were familiar, it was never doubted that all children born in a country of parents who were its citizens became themselves, upon their birth, citizens also. These were natives, or natural-born citizens, as distinguished from aliens or foreigners. Some authorities go further and include as citizens children born within the jurisdiction without reference to the citizenship of their [p168] parents. As to this class there have been doubts, but never as to the first. For the purposes of this case it is not necessary to solve these doubts. It is sufficient for everything we have now to consider that all children born of citizen parents within the jurisdiction are themselves citizens.”
You can try to claim that they defined NBC, but he defines “natives, or natural-born citizens” as being in contrast (”distinguished from”) “aliens or foreigners”. He doesn’t contrast NBC with other citizens even. NBC is used only one time in the paragraph, and he uses citizen to describe the same people (”citizens also. These were natives, or natural-born citizens”). It uses citizen & natives and NBC as equivalents.
You may not accept it, but no court has ever read it the way you do. Nor should they.
In the previous paragraph they wrote:
“This is apparent from the Constitution itself, for it provides [n6] that “no person except a natural-born citizen, or a citizen of the United States at the time of the adoption of the Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President,” [n7] and that Congress shall have power “to establish a uniform rule of naturalization.” Thus new citizens may be born or they may be created by naturalization.”
Two classes - born, and made. Not three - born to citizens, born to aliens, and made. Just two.
He makes the contrast by where the sentence is placed. For what you want to believe to be true, the sentence that characterized the first class as NBCs would need to follow the sentence on the class of persons for which there is doubt. What exactly is the purpose of saying anything about citizen parents if NBC can be applied more broadly?? Why were citizen parents emphasized when it wasn't part of Virginia Minor's argument??