Posted on 09/02/2013 9:58:26 AM PDT by xzins
Yet the children of the king's embassadors born abroad were always held to be natural subjects: for as the father, though in a foreign country, owes not even a local allegiance to the prince to whom he is sent; so, with regard to the son also, he was held (by a kind of postliminium) to be born under the king of England's allegiance, represented by his father, the embassador. To encourage also foreign commerce, it was enacted by statute 25 Edw. III. st. 2. that all children born abroad, provided both their parents were at the time of the birth in allegiance to the king, and the mother had passed the seas by her husband's consent, might inherit as if born in England: and accordingly it hath been so adjudged in behalf of merchants. But by several more modern statutes these restrictions are still farther taken off: so that all children, born out of the king's ligeance, whose fathers were natural-born subjects, are now natural-born subjects themselves, to all intents and purposes, without any exception; unless their said fathers were attainted, or banished beyond sea, for high treason; or were then in the service of a prince at enmity with Great Britain.
From various members of the 1st Congress debating the 1790 Naturalization Act. (Note Jackson's use of Blackstone, and the other's use of British law.):
Mr. Jackson.--It was observed yesterday, Mr. Chairman, that we could not modify or confine our terms of naturalization; that we could not admit an alien to the rights of citizenship progressively. I shall take the liberty of supporting the contrary doctrine, which I contend for, by the reference to the very accurate commentator on the laws of England, Justice Blackstone, I, 10.--"Naturalization," says he, "cannot be performed but by an act of Parliament; for by this an alien is put in exactly the same state as if he had been born in the King's legiance, except only, that he is incapable, as well as a denizen, of being a member of the Privy Council, or Parliament, holding offices, grants, &c. No bill for naturalization can be received in either House of Parliament without such disabling clause in it." So that here we find, in that nation from which we derive most of our ideas on this subject, not only that citizens are made progressively, but that such a mode is absolutely necessary to be pursued in every act of Parliament for the naturalization of foreigners. Representative James Jackson, Georgia, Officer during Revolution in State Militia, delegate to provincial Congress and to State Convention.
Mr. Burke....The case of the children of American parents born abroad ought to be provided for, as was done in the case of English parents, in the 12th year of William III. There are several other cases that ought to be likewise attended to.Aedanus Burke, South Carolina, who had been an officer in the Continental Army.
Mr. Hartley observed, that the subject was entirely new, and that the committee had no positive mode to enable them to decide; the practice of England, and the regulations of the several States, threw some light on the subject, but not sufficient to enable them to discover what plan of naturalization would be acceptable under a Government like this. Some gentlemen had objected to the bill, without attending to all its parts, for a remedy was therein provided for some of the inconveniences that have been suggested. It was said, the bill ought to extend to the exclusion of those who had trespassed against the laws of foreign nations, or been convicted of a capital offence in any foreign kingdom; the last clause contains a proviso to that effect, and he had another clause ready to present, providing for the children of American citizens, born out of the United States.Rep Thomas Hartley, Pennsylvania, Continental Army Officer, Delegate to Provincial Congress, Delegate to Ratification Convention
United States Congress, “An act to establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization” (March 26, 1790).
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That any Alien being a free white person, who shall have resided within the limits and under the jurisdiction of the United States for the term of two years, may be admitted to become a citizen thereof on application to any common law Court of record in any one of the States wherein he shall have resided for the term of one year at least, and making proof to the satisfaction of such Court that he is a person of good character, and taking the oath or affirmation prescribed by law to support the Constitution of the United States, which Oath or Affirmation such Court shall administer, and the Clerk of such Court shall record such Application, and the proceedings thereon; and thereupon such person shall be considered as a Citizen of the United States. And the children of such person so naturalized, dwelling within the United States, being under the age of twenty one years at the time of such naturalization, shall also be considered as citizens of the United States. And the children of citizens of the United States that may be born beyond Sea, or out of the limits of the United States, shall be considered as natural born Citizens: Provided, that the right of citizenship shall not descend to persons whose fathers have never been resident in the United States: Provided also, that no person heretofore proscribed by any States, shall be admitted a citizen as aforesaid, except by an Act of the Legislature of the State in which such person was proscribed.
Same here.
That is just grasping at straws, sourcery, to maintain your own personal interpretation and pretend nothing else exists.
Cruz will run if he so chooses, and there will be no legal denial of his doing so based on “natural born citizen.” And then where will you be?
Anyone who wants to understand what Congress meant, all you have to do is keep reading:
Is "Natural Born Citizen" Equivalent To "Natural Born Subject" As Defined By English Common Law?
If so, it would have to be an exception to the clear words of the Founders and the controlling Supreme Court precedents that deny that Federal law is based on the English common law. Could that be? And what was the English common law definition of a "natural born subject," in any case?
In Britain, there are only two types of law: "common law" and Acts of Parliament. In the absence of an Act of Parliament, the common law applies. But any Act of Parliament overrides the common law. Britain has no Constitution as a separate and distinct document. In the British system there is no higher written law superior to an Act of Parliament, although core legal principles such as the rule of law are considered to be superior even to Parliament. Some laws and court rulings have attained an informal, but nevertheless quite strong, status as forming part of the British Constitution.
Every decision of any British court could potentially establish a new precedent in the common law—even decisions based solely on statutes. Conversely, Parliament could and did enact statutes that were intended to canonically declare and codify the common law as it already existed. However, it was not always clear whether that was or was not the intent (or legal effect) of a statute (or of one of its clauses or provisions.) Similarly, an Act of Parliament or court decision could evolve over time to have the weight and authority of a Constitutional provision, and so become a part of the informal British Constitution.
The legal rules regarding English (and then British) citizenship ("subjecthood") originally evolved exclusively as common law, as there were no Acts of Parliament on the topic.
The term "natural" in "natural born subject" refers to the fact that common law in theory was based on principles of what was naturally true, right or just. Of course, "in theory, there is no difference between theory and practice, but in practice, there is." So in practice, common law and natural law were not always the same. Natural law was entirely theoretical, whereas the common law was actual, enforceable law. Natural law was the ideal, but common law is what was real.
The relationship between the British concept of natural law and the body of English common law would be analogous to the the relationship between the text of the US Constitution and the decisions of the Supreme Court which interpret that text. Caveat: few analogies are perfect, and this one is no exception.
"Natural born subject" originally meant a person whose status as a subject was due to a) the application of "natural" law, and b) acquired as a direct and immediate consequence of the facts of a person's birth. So anyone whose status as a British "natural born subject" was due solely to either a) an Act of Parliament, or b) an order of the King or Queen, was therefore a "naturalized" subject. The term "naturalization" referred to the fact that the person was transferred artificially by political decision into a status which others had "by nature" without any need to rely on political edicts. So those made "natural born subjects" by statutory definition were said to be naturalized, but anyone whose status as a "natural born subject" was based on the "common law" (which was theoretically based on natural principles) was not a "naturalized" subject, but rather an actual "natural born subject." So that's the reason that the act of making someone a subject (or citizen) by either an act of the legislature or by order of the sovereign is called "naturalization" in English. "Naturalization" is simply shorthand for "defining someone as a natural born subject" by order of political authority—as opposed to using "natural law" principles theoretically based on what is true by nature (which, in practice, meant using natural law's actual realization, the common law.) Referring to that act as "naturalization" makes no sense otherwise.
The most pivotal court (common law) decision on the topic of citizenship (subjecthood) in British History is Calvin's Case (which we will examine in detail below.) In 1608, Judge Yelverton, one of the judges who decided Calvin's Case, explained that no act of Parliament—no law passed by Parliament, and no naturalization performed by Parliament—could transform anyone into an actual subject. Parliament may naturalize people and thereby deem them to be subjects, but could never make them subjects in fact:
A parliament may make a man to be accompted as naturalised, and conclude every man to say but that he is so, but it can never make a man to be so indeede (Yelverton, as quoted by Bruce Galloway, The Union of England and Scotland 1603-1608, 2003.; p.157)
The same point is made by Timothy Cunningham, in A New and Complete Law-Dictionary, (1771), p.97, in a section entitled "Aliens":
Naturalizing in Ireland is of no effect as to England; for naturalization is but a fiction of law, and can have effect but upon those only consenting to that fiction; therefore it has the like effect as a man's birth hath, where the law-makers have power, but not where they have not. Naturalizing in Ireland gives the same effect in Ireland as being born there; so in Scotland as being born there; but not in England, which consents not to the fiction of Ireland or Scotland, nor to any but her own.
Original Meaning Of "Natural Born Subject" In English Common Law
Common law evolves over time. So did the English common law definition of a subject born (an "actual" natural born subject.)
It is common and natural for the meanings of terms to change over time, as new circumstances make old meanings less useful, and motivate new meanings that have greater utility in new environments and situations. Originally, there were no statutes defining "natural born subject," and so there was no statutory meaning, and the term only had a common law definition.
A commentary by John Rastell (c.1475-1536) states that the original common law defined anyone born on English soil, regardless of whether his parents were English or alien, as an Englishman:
Alien is he of whom the father is born, and he himself also born, out of the ligeance [territory] of our lord the king; but if an alien come and dwell in England which is not of the king's ememies and here has issue [child], this issue [child] is not alien but English; also if an Englishman go over the sea with the king's license and there has issue [child], this issue [child] is not alien. (Expositiones terminorum (1527), as quoted by Kim (1996), spelling modernized for readability)
According to Thomas de Littleton (1407-1481), birthplace alone determined whether someone was a subject or alien by birth:
In his Tenures (c. 1450-60), [Littleton] defined aliens as those 'born out of the liegance of our lord the king...'. He further elaborated that 'born out of the liegance' meant 'born in such country as is out the king's liegeaunce...' Statutes enacted in the Tudor years [1485-1603] were in complete agreement with Littleton's definition in that alien status was defined by birthplace only. (Kim (2000), p.149).
It was common for Parliament to eventually codify the common law by statute. That's one reason it's so easy to be quite wrong regarding what was true according to the common law and what was not. The fact that there was a statute asserting the law did not necessarily mean that common law had not reached the same conclusions earlier. And of course, different factions could disagree that a court's ruling was a fair determination of natural law—just as different factions in the United States disagree whether a Supreme Court ruling is a fair interpretation of the text of the Constitution. Occasionally, a faction whose point of view does not prevail in an initial court decision later succeeds in getting an adverse decision reversed.
In 1628, Sir Edward Coke (1552-1634) wrote a commentary on Littleton's work. Coke's commentary, often referred to as Coke upon Littleton, reiterated Littleton's viewpoint that all children born on English soil were "subjects born", regardless of whether their parents were subjects or aliens:
If an Alien commeth into England and hath issue two sonnes, these two sonnes are Indigenae subjects borne, because they are borne within the Realme. (Coke (1628), p.630)
For much of English history, the English Channel kept England isolated from the rest of the world. English subjects rarely gave birth overseas, and aliens rarely gave birth in England. In general, birth on English soil was synonymous with birth to English parents. However, as travel, commerce and immigration increased, the simplistic "rule"—that birthplace alone determined nationality—became impractical and unrealistic:
The rule [that every person born within the dominions of the Crown was an English subject], when originally established, was not unsuited to the isolated position of this island, and the absence of intercourse with foreign nations in Saxon times. No children of English parents being born abroad, or children of foreign parents being born within the realm, the simple rule that to be born within the dominions of the Crown constituted an Englishman answered every purpose. But when the foreign possessions of our kings and the increase of commerce had led to greater intercourse with the Continent, and children of English parents were sometimes born abroad, the inconvenience of the rule which made place of birth the sole criterion of nationality soon became felt. (Cockburn, p.7)
Calvin's Case: New Court Precedent Changes Common Law Definition Of "Natural Born Subject"
In Calvin's Case (1608), allegiance, rather than birthplace, became the new criterion of English nationality at birth. The justices ruled that parental allegiance, not the place of one's birth, determined one's legal status at birth. Regardless of where you were born, you were not an English subject by birth unless your parents were within the king's allegiance (obedience) at the time of your birth:
...any place within the king's dominions may make a subject born, but any place within the king's dominions without obedience can never produce a natural subject. (Coke(1608), p.208)…it is nec coelum, nec solum [neither sky nor soil], but ligeantia [allegiance] and obedientia [obedience] that make the subject born (Coke(1608), p.179)
Most children born on English soil were English subjects, only because most children born on English soil were born of parents who were within the king's allegiance. One consequence of the new common law precedent established by the decision in Calvin's Case was that if parents did not owe allegiance (obedience) to the king, there was no way—either by natural law or by man-made law—that their children could acquire English subjecthood at birth, regardless of the children's birthplace:
Et si desit obedientia non adjuvet locus [And, if obedience is lacking, the place does not help]. (Coke(1608), p.224)
So what was meant by "allegiance"? Allegiance (also called ligeance) was a relationship between an individual and the king. In this relationship, the individual was obligated to serve and obey the king, and the king, in turn, was expected to govern and protect the individual:
...ligeance is the mutual bond and obligation between the King and his subjects, whereby subjects are called his liege subjects, because they are bound to obey and serve him; and he is called their liege lord, because he should maintain and defend them. (Coke(1608), p.176)
After the court decision in Calvin's Case, when children were born on English soil, their legal status, at birth, was based on their parents' allegiance (ligeance). Parental allegiance was determined as follows:
Aliens Children.L. 1. B. To place the Children, born within this Realm, of foreign Parents, in Degree for the first Birth or Descent only, as Aliens made Denizens, and not otherwise. House of Commons Journal Volume 1, 21 April 1604
The jus soli principle: At first glance, the English common law "rule" appears to have been jus soli—subjecthood determined by birthplace alone. Almost all children born on English soil were, at birth, natural-born subjects, regardless of whether their parents were subjects or aliens. But the underlying principle of Calvin's Case was that parental allegiance, not the place of one's birth, was the primary criterion of one's legal status at birth:
The fundamental principle of the common law with regard to English nationality was birth within the allegiance, also called "ligealty," "obedience," "faith," or "power" of the King. The principle embraced all persons born within the King's allegiance and subject to his protection. Such allegiance and protection were mutual—as expressed in the maxim protectio trahit subjectionem, et subjectio protectionem ["protection involves allegiance, and allegiance protection"]—and were not restricted to natural-born subjects and naturalized subjects, or to those who had taken an oath of allegiance, but were predicable of aliens in amity so long as they were within the kingdom. Children, born in England, of such aliens were therefore natural-born subjects. But the children, born within the realm, of foreign ambassadors, or the children of alien enemies, born during and within their hostile occupation of part of the King's dominions, were not natural-born subjects because [they were] not born within the allegiance ... of the King. (U.S. v. Wong Kim Ark, 1898)
As a general rule, children born on English soil were English natural-born subjects (whether by common law or by statute.) But there were exceptions to this rule. While characterizing these exceptions as "unimportant", Albert Venn Dicey (1835-1922) acknowledged that the underlying reason for these exceptions was that birthright subjecthood stemmed from allegiance, not the place of one's birth:
The exceptional and unimportant instances in which birth within the British dominions does not of itself confer British nationality are due to the fact that, though at common law nationality or allegiance in substance depended on the place of a person's birth, it in theory at least depended, not upon the locality of a man's birth, but upon his being born within the jurisdiction and allegiance of the king of England; and it might occasionally happen that a person was born within the dominions without being born within the allegiance, or, in other words, under the protection and control of the crown. (Albert Dicey, The Conflict of Laws, 1896, as quoted in U.S. v. Wong Kim Ark, 1898)
The meaning of ligeance is inseparably intertwined with the meaning of "natural-born subject". According to the majority opinion in Calvin's Case, ligeance ("allegiance") is the defining characteristic that separates subjects from aliens. Ligeance is "the onely mark to distinguish a subject from an alien" (Coke(1608), pp.197-8). A subject has natural or acquired ligeance; an alien does not.
As a general rule, anyone born within the ligeance of the king is a "natural subject" of the king:
... they that are born under the obedience, power, faith, ligealty, or ligeance of the King, are natural subjects, and no aliens. (Coke(1608), p.177)
But what does the phrase "born within the ligeance" mean?
Prior to 1608, the meaning of ligeance was ambiguous. In some contexts, it meant the king's territory. In other contexts, it referred to an individual's (or an individual's parents') faith, loyalty and obedience:
Before ligeance was employed to refer to a tract of land, the term had already been used to refer to a certain quality of interpersonal relationship. Glanvill, for instance, used the term to explain the pre-eminent relationship between a tenant and his 'liege' lord. Also, the treaty between Henry II and William, king of Scots (the Treaty of Falaise, 1174) ... indicates that the term was used to refer to the relationship of fidelity rather than a piece of land. ... Bracton also uses the term to refer to something other than a geographical tract.… But in the late thirteenth century, we begin to see that the territorial extent of the King's legitimate power is also called ligeance. According to fourteenth century legal terminology, out of the ligeance (hors de la ligeance) could mean 'out of England'. Likewise, within the ligeance (deinz la ligeance) often meant 'within England'. ... It appears that the term was used in an ambivalent manner by the early fourteenth century. In other words, the term carried a certain amount of ambiguity with it. (Kim (2000), pp.137-139)
Two examples illustrate the confusing dual meaning of ligeance:
Serjeant Shardlow, the attorney for the defense, argued that Philip's father's parents (Philip's grandparents) were married in England, did homage to the English king, and died in the king's homage. Therefore, Philip's father was born within the king's ligeance (loyalty and obedience).
Shardlow used the dual meaning of ligeance to circumvent English inheritance laws. His strategy worked, but only temporarily. The judge ruled in Philip's favor, but the ruling was overturned on appeal. Philip eventually forfeited his inheritance to the king. (Kim (2000), p.139).
All children heirs who will from henceforth be born out of the ligeance [territory] of the king, provided that, at the time of the birth, their fathers and mothers are, and will be, of the faith and ligeance [loyalty and obedience] of the King of England, [shall] have and enjoy the same benefits and advantages of having and carrying the inheritance within the said ligeance ... (Statue De natis ultra mare, 1351, as quoted by Kim (2000), p.121)
By the fifteenth century, it appears (as documented above) that ligeance had come to mean territorial extent only.
But the meaning of ligeance underwent a transformation during the late sixteenth-century Elizabethan succession debates (words tend to acquire whatever meaning that society, or those in power, need them to mean.) The controversy over who would succeed Queen Elizabeth to the throne (she had no children) helped to forge a consensus of legal opinion that a child's personal status at birth—whether subject or alien—was properly based on the faith, obedience and loyalty of the parents at the time of the child's birth, not the territory in which the child was born. The English word allegiance (a variation of ligeance) first appeared in the Elizabethan Succession Tracts. Even today, "allegiance" implies loyalty, not a geographical location:
By the time Calvin's Case was decided in 1608, the English legal community had already reached a consensus of opinion that the allegiance of your parents, not the place of your birth, determined whether you were a subject or alien when you were born:
By the time of Calvin's Case, it was no longer sensible to doubt that allegiance was the decisive criterion of a person's legal status. ... The bond of faith thus became the pivotal element of legal reasoning. (Kim (2000), p.178)
The ruling in Calvin's Case reflected the prevailing viewpoint that one's birthplace, by itself, did not confer subjecthood; that without some measure of parental obedience or allegiance, it was impossible (by natural law or man-made law) for a child to be an English subject at birth, even if such child was born on English soil. In his Report on Calvin's Case, Lord Coke quoted—often word-for-word—directly from the Elizabethan Succession Tracts:
...any place within the king's dominions may make a subject born, but any place within the king's dominions without obedience can never produce a natural subject. (Coke(1608), p.208)...it is nec coelum, nec solum [neither sky nor soil], but ligeantia [allegiance] and obedientia [obedience] that make the subject born (Coke(1608), p.179)
In 1608, the English court (in Calvin's Case) defined "ligeance" as a personal relationship between a king and his subjects, whereby the king governs and protects his subjects, and his subjects give the king their faith, loyalty and obedience:
...ligeance is the mutual bond and obligation between the King and his subjects, whereby subjects are called his liege subjects, because they are bound to obey and serve him; and he is called their liege lord, because he should maintain and defend them. (Coke(1608), p.176)... This word ligeance is well expressed by divers several names or synonymia which we find in our books. Sometimes it is called the obedience or obeisance of the subject to the King... Sometimes ligeance is called faith... (Coke(1608), p.176)
...ligeance, and faith and truth which are her members and parts, are qualities of the mind and soul of man... (Coke(1608), p.182)
...it followeth, that seeing the King's power, command, and protection extendeth out of England, that ligeance cannot be local, or confined within the bounds thereof. (Coke(1608), p.188)
...ligeance is a quality of the mind, and not confined within any place... (Coke(1608), p.188)
According to Lord Coke's Report on Calvin's Case, there were four kinds of ligeance: natural, acquired, local, and legal. Anyone who was born with "natural" ligeance was subject born. Persons who owed "acquired" ligeance were subjects made. Alien friends owed "local" ligeance to the king. Alien enemies, and foreigners, did not owe any ligeance to the king.
One's ligeance affected the legal status of one's children. Children born on English soil were subjects (subjects born or subjects made) at birth only if their parents were within the king's natural, acquired or local ligeance. Children born in a foreign country were English subjects only if their fathers owed natural ligeance to the king (but were still subjects made, since the status of subjecthood in such cases was conferred by an Act of Parliament, known as De Natis ultra Mare (1351))
Lord Coke often used "obedience" as a synonym of ligeance. By itself, the word ligeance (therefore the word "obedience") generally implied subjecthood. Lord Coke defined ligeance as a relationship between a subject and his king:
...ligeance is the mutual bond and obligation between the King and his subjects, whereby subjects are called his liege subjects, because they are bound to obey and serve him; and he is called their liege lord, because he should maintain and defend them. (Coke(1608), p.176)
Ligeance was "the onely mark to distinguish a subject from an alien" (Coke(1608), pp.197-8). Those who were within the king's ligeance were subjects. Those who were outside of the king's ligeance were aliens. The exception to this rule was local ligeance. Persons who owed local ligeance to the king were aliens. Local ligeance conferred subjecthood to the children of aliens, but did not confer subjecthood to the aliens themselves.
Every English subject owes either "natural" or "acquired" ligeance to the king. "Natural" and "acquired" ligeance (obedience) are "actual" in the sense that they confer actual property rights to the individual and impose actual life-long obligations of service to the king.
In contrast, aliens owe "local" ligeance (obedience) to the king. Local ligeance (obedience) is "wrought by the law" (Coke(1608), p.177). In general, the term "by law" is a contradistinction of "actual". Something which is so "by law" is not necessarily so "in fact".
Persons who owe local ligeance (obedience) to the king are aliens. They do not receive subjecthood, they do not acquire real property rights, and they do not owe permanent (perpetual) allegiance to the king. Their obligation of allegiance is only temporary; it expires as soon as they depart from the king's territory.
Lord Coke characterized local ligeance as "extremely uncertain":
localis ligeantia est ligeantia infima et minima, et maxime incerta [local allegiance is something mean and small, and extremely uncertain]. (Coke(1608), p.179)
The English Common Law Definition Of Natural Born Subject In The 18th-Century
Following the decision in Calvin's Case, other than in special cases, a child was a common law subject born (a subject by natural law) if it met two requirements at the time of its birth: a birthplace requirement (the child had to be born within the king's realm), and a parental obedience requirement (the child's parents had to be under the "actual obedience" of the king):
There be regularly (unless it be in special cases) three incidents to a subject born. 1. That the parents be under the actual obedience of the King. 2. That the place of his birth be within the King's dominion. And, 3. The time of his birth is chiefly to be considered; for he cannot be a subject born of one kingdom that was born under the ligeance of a King of another kingdom, albeit afterwards one kingdom descend to the King of the other. …any place within the King's dominion without obedience can never produce a natural subject. (Coke (1608), p.208)
So, per Lord Coke, to be a subject born:
Timothy Cunningham's Law Dictionary (1771) was the only law dictionary that James Madison ordered for the Continental Congress. It was one of the most popular comprehensive English dictionaries of the late eighteenth century, and was found in many personal libraries, including those of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. It was contemporaneously used by various American Supreme Courts for clarification of legal terms. (Berry, pp.347-8). Under the "Aliens" section of his Law Dictionary, Cunningham defined "natural-born subject" as one who is born within the king's realm, of parents who are under the king's "actual obedience":
All those are natural born subjects, whose parents, at the time of their birth, were under the actual obedience of our king, and whose place of birth was within his dominions. (Cunningham, p.95, in section entitled "Aliens")
The exact same definition of "natural-born subject" is found in Matthew Bacon's A New Abridgment of the Law, Volume 1, published in 1736. (Bacon, Matthew, p.77).
When the U.S. Constitution was being written, Giles Jacob's New Law Dictionary (1782) was "the most widely used English Law dictionary" (Berry, pp.350-1). Jacob defined "subject born" (an actual natural-born subject) as anyone born within the king's realm, of parents who are under the king's "actual obedience":
There are two incidents regularly that are necessary to make a subject born: first, that his parents, at the time of his birth, be under the actual obedience of the king; Secondly, that the place of his birth be within the king's dominions. (Giles Jacob, A New Law Dictionary, 1782., p.40)
Actual natural-born subjects (subjects born) were subjects by natural law. They were born on English soil, to parents who were under the "actual obedience" of the king. They were born with natural allegiance to the king.
Similarly, those who were under ("subject to") the King's "actual obedience" owed allegiance to the King (or Queen) according to natural law (as the British viewed it.) Natural law, per the British, held that those who were subjects of the King owed him obedience, submission, loyalty, and faith. They were his subjects, because they subjected themselves to his authority and jurisdiction as their liege lord. So, according to 18th-century English common law, an actual natural-born subject, a subject born, was someone born on British soil to parents who were loyal British subjects (whether "subjects born" or "subjects made") at the time of birth.
Those born on British soil to parents who were "alien friends" (permanent legal residents) were naturalized "natural born subjects," made so by Act of Parliament. So they were subjects made, not subjects born. According to the House of Commons Journal Volume 1, 21 April 1604, said statute was enacted in 1604:
Aliens Children.L. 1. B. To place the Children, born within this Realm, of foreign Parents, in Degree for the first Birth or Descent only, as Aliens made Denizens, and not otherwise.
Both Cunningham and Jacob understood that the English-born children of alien parents were statutory denizens. They were deemed to be natural-born by statute, but were not natural-born in any factual or natural-law sense:
...if one born out of the king's allegiance, come and dwell in England, his children begotten here, are not aliens, but denizens. (Cunningham, p.95, in section entitled "Aliens")... And if one born out of the king's obedience come and reside in England, his children, begotten and born here, are not aliens but denizens. (Giles Jacob, A New Law Dictionary, 1782.)
The word denizens in both of the above citations removes all doubt that the subjecthood of those born in England to alien parents from the 17th-century onward is an act of naturalization granted by statute.
In 1608, Francis Bacon wrote that English law "naturalized," at birth, English-born children of alien parents, as well as foreign-born children of English parents. In both cases, the children were, at birth, natural-born subjects. But their natural-born subjecthood was conferred by statutory law, not natural law:
Furthermore as the law of England must favor naturalization as a branch of the law of nature, so it appears manifestly, that it doth favour it accordingly. For it is not much to make a subject naturalized by the law of England: it should suffice, either place or parents. If he be born in England it is no matter though his parents be Spaniards, or what you will: on the other side, if he be born of English parents it skilleth not though he be born in Spain, or in any other place of the world. In such sort doth the law of England open her lap to receive in people to be naturalized; which indeed sheweth the wisdom and excellent composition of our law ... (Bacon, Francis, pp.664-665)
In de Vattel's understanding, English-born children of foreign parents were "naturalized" at birth. These children became English natural-born subjects, not by natural law, but by a naturalization statute enacted by Parliament:
Finally, there are states, as, for instance, England, where the single circumstance of being born in the country naturalizes the children of a foreigner. (de Vattel, § 214)
English-born children of alien parents were natural-born subjects in the sense that they had property rights. But such children did not have the same economic and municipal rights as did English-born children of English parents. Prior to 1737, English-born children of alien parents could not become "citizens" (freemen) of an English city or town.
When someone was born in England and both of his parents were aliens at the time of his birth, he was deemed a natural-born subject, but nevertheless had to pay aliens' duties:
There is a curious passage in Hale's Treatise Concerning the Customs concerning aliens' customs [duties] in the 17th century. He says "If an alien come into England and have issue [child] here, he [the child] is a natural-born subject. Yet ... such a natural-born subject hath been decreed heretofore to pay aliens' duties..." Hargrave, Tracts, vol. I (1787) 210. Cf. the similar tendency to treat the native members of the foreign Protestant congregations as aliens.... The statute 12 & 14 Car. 2, c. 11 furthered the policy by disabling infant children of aliens from trade. (Parry, footnote 327).
By the time William Blackstone (1723-1780) wrote his Commentaries (1765-1769), Parliament had enacted laws which conferred subjecthood, at birth, to foreign-born children of English fathers:
...all children, born out of the king's ligeance [territory], whose fathers were natural-born subjects, are now natural-born subjects themselves, to all intents and purposes, without any exception; unless their said fathers were attainted, or banished beyond sea, for high treason; or were then in the service of a prince at enmity with Great Britain. (Blackstone)
Blackwell was referring to The Act of Anne (1708,) which conferred "natural born subject" status to foreign-born children of English parents:
By the 7 Ann. it is enacted that "the children of all natural-born subjects, born out of the ligeance [territory] of her majesty, her heirs and successors, shall be deemed, adjudged and taken to be natural-born subjects of this kingdom, to all intents, constructions and purposes whatsoever." (Timothy Cunningham, A New and Complete Law-Dictionary, 1771., p.96, in section entitled "Aliens")
Note the wording: The Act did not say that foreign-born children of English parents were natural-born subjects in actuality. Instead, it decreed that such children were deemed to be natural-born subjects. Their status as natural born subjects was by political decree, but was not what they were by nature. There is no need for a law to declare anything to be what it is in fact, by the nature of the thing itself.
In his report to Congress (1967), Dowdy recognized a difference between natural-born subjects in fact and natural-born subjects by law. Only those persons who were born within the king's realm were "true" natural-born subjects; all other natural-born subjects were "naturalized" by Parliament, either by statute or by private acts of naturalization:
No child born outside of the dominion of the King was ever a true "natural-born subject." They were naturalized subjects. It is true that by the naturalization acts under which they had become naturalized subjects had "deemed" them to be natural-born subjects (despite the fact that they were not so in fact), and the very fact that these were "deemed" to be natural-born by the naturalization act reveals that the true "natural-born" subjects were those born within the dominion of the King without the necessity of a naturalization law to "deem" them to be in law what they were not in fact. ~ Dowdy, Natural Born Citizen
In Dowdy's reasoning, Parliament would deem certain children to be natural-born subjects only if such children were not already natural-born subjects in fact. When children acquired English subjecthood by natural law, there was no need for any man-made law to confer subjecthood to them.
During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Parliament enacted laws granting subjecthood to (a) foreign-born children of English fathers, and (b) English-born children of alien parents. The fact that Parliament had enacted such laws suggests that the children who were naturalized by those laws were not natural-born subjects, at birth, in any factual or natural-law sense.
The British Nationality Act of 1730 states:
...That all Children born out of the Ligeance of the Crown of England, or of Great Britain, or which shall hereafter be born out of such Ligeance, whose Fathers were or shall be natural-born Subjects of the Crown of England, or of Great Britain, at the Time of the Birth of such Children respectively, shall and may, by virtue of the said recited Clause in the said Act of the seventh Year of the Reign of her said late Majesty, and of this present Act (7 Ann. c. 5. s. 3.), be adjudged and taken to be, and all such Children are hereby declared to be natural-born Subjects of the Crown of Great Britain, to all Intents, Constructions and Purposes whatsoever.
The British Nationality Act of 1772 states:
...That all Persons born, or who hereafter shall be born, out of the Ligeance of the Crown of England, or of Great Britain, whose Fathers were or shall be, by virtue of a Statute made in the Fourth Year of King George the Second, to explain a Clause in an Act made in the Seventh Year of the Reign of Her Majesty Queen Anne, for naturalizing Foreign Protestants, which relates to the natural-born Subjects of the Crown of England, or of Great Britain, intitled to all the Rights and Privileges of natural-born Subjects of the Crown of England or of Great Britain, shall and may be adjudged and taken to be, and are hereby declared and enacted to be, natural-born Subjects of the Crown of Great Britain, to all Intents, Constructions, and Purposes whatsoever, as if he and they had been and were born in this Kingdom: ...
When the U.S. Constitution was written, the law "on the books" was that English-born children of alien parents were denizens, and those born in foreign lands to fathers who where "natural born subjects" (whether born or made) were deemed by statute (legal fiction) to be "natural born subjects." Both classes of persons—those born in England to alien parents and those born to British subjects in a foreign land—were subjects made not subjects born, because they were not natural-born subjects in fact based on either natural law principles or English common law.
So if it were intended by the Founders that US citizenship law be modeled after British citizenship law, then the foregoing evidence allows for one and only one system of translation between the two legal ontologies of citizenship:
English common law term American Law term Explanation Natural born subject Citizen Because of the way terminology and practice evolved, English law used natural born subject as its general term for citizen. The term naturalization was coined because the Acts of Parliament that first overrode common law regarding citizenship declared persons to be "natural born subjects" by legislative edict instead of by common law. So naturalization was the act of legally declaring someone to be a natural born subject as a legal fiction. Subject born Natural born citizen These terms clearly and undeniably are excellent analogs of each other Subject made Naturalized citizen These terms clearly and undeniably are excellent analogs of each other
However, in spite of the strong correspondence that the analysis above has revealed between the semantics of the 18th-century English common law definition of an actual "natural born subject" (a subject born) and the definition of "natural born citizen" as given by Dr. Ramsay (where the parents must have been citizens,) and the strong analogy between the general term "natural born subject" in British law and the general term "citizen" in US law, that does not prove that the only difference between the two terminologies is the one between a citizen and a subject. It doesn't even prove that it was the intent of the Founders to define "natural born citizen" based in any way on English common law.
I would concur that Ted Cruz would be awesome, to say the least.
BTW, I was wondering, is there any reason the PM feature is not working when I try it? Does FR not allow Freepmail anymore or does your account have to be active for a certain amount of days and a certain amount of posts to allow for FreepMail? I was just wondering because I noted that it is a relatively new thing. I apologize for bringing it up on a public thread but since the OM feauture was not working I figured I might as well ask here.
...That is just grasping at straws, sourcery, to maintain your own personal interpretation and pretend nothing else exists....
methinks you are projecting your own interpretation and pretending nothing else exists. You are beating a dead horse.
We are not ruled by King George or Blackstone. Where does Vattel fit in in your theory?
yup, you got me. it’s my interpretation that the founders were trying to limit split allegiances. i mean, its not like they stated it anywhere or discussed it at length or anything.
boy howdy. you sure done nailed it.
so... out of curiosity, why would they even bring up the topic of split allegiances and decide on the wording ‘natural born citizen’?
why would they do that? please... enlighten me
Vattel’s Influence on the term
a Natural Born Citizen
....If not Vattel, then where did they arrive at this term. Many of those who ridicule us like to quote Blackstone as authoritative that the United States adopted English Common Law. They like to state that Blackstone’s natural born subject is equivalent of a natural born citizen. There is no doubt that the Founding Father’s were influenced from Blackstone’s Commentary. However, the Framers of the Constitution recognized that it was Blackstone, who argued that the Parliament and King could change the constitution at will. Blackstone was increasingly recognized by the Americans as a proponent of arbitrary power. In fact, the framers rejected the notion that the United States was under English Common Law, “The common law of England is not the common law of these States.” George Mason one of Virginia’s delegates to the Constitutional Convention....
.....To add further proof to the intent of the Founding Fathers literal meaning of Vattel’s definition of a natural born citizen being born of two citizens, and in the country itself, and wanting a natural born citizen having no other claim to his loyalty except that of the United States of America, in 1795 the Congress amended the Naturalization Act of 1790. The Naturalization Act of 1795, which was also signed by George Washington, recognized Blackstone’s commentaries on English Common Law, making children born overseas in the lands under British rule, British Subjects. Even if their parents were American. This act removed the words natural born from children born overseas of American parents, so that no other potentate could lay claim to this person, and thus establish “a presence of influence” in the Executive Branch. It was the intent of our Founding Fathers to “naturalize at birth” these children, but not give them the status “natural born citizens.” Also in this act of 1795, we see the importance of complete allegiance to the United States for all people naturalized, as this is the first appearance of the oath of allegiance “to renounce forever all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty whereof such alien may at that time be a citizen or subject.” This oath is still in effect today.....
more at link:
http://birthers.org/USC/Vattel.html
Placeholder.
There can be no question that the Framers of the US Constitution strongly believed in natural law principles. Nor can there be any question that the concept of natural law is at least one foundational concept that was shared by both English common law and by pan-European concepts of natural law and the law of nations. The disagreements between English common law and pan-European natural law theories involved what was held to be true by nature and reason. Also, most European societies had no common law tradition—their courts typically operated on what is called civil law, which is a body of codified laws generally created initially as a unified whole, and not one that evolves incrementally over time based on court decisions. In a civil law system, any changes to the law are made by some authority other than the civil courts.
The legal systems of each of the American States operated originally based not just according to the mechanics of common law, where court decisions make new law with every precedential holding of a court, but also by incorporating the precedential holdings of British courts. And it's true that the US Federal courts operate as a common law system, in that precedential court holdings make new law. However, the US Federal government and the US Constitution did not incorporate the past precedential holdings of British courts—because the Founders of the United States disagreed with the British on fundamental issues regarding what was true by nature and reason.
One reason that the Founders disagreed with British tradition regarding the principles of natural law is because the US was founded as a Constitutional Republic, not as a monarchy. The foundational principles were different, and in fact were an explicit rejection of key foundational principles of English law and English government. That was one very strong reason that the US Founders rejected the body of English common law, even though they did not reject common law as a system of evolving the law incrementally by means of court decisions. And as a practical matter, each colony was founded at different times, adopted English common law as its own at different times, and then evolved its own common law going forward, independently of Great Britain and the other colonies. So there was no common "common law" among the founding States—not even concerning matters of citizenship.
Words and terms of art have the meanings they do because of their utility in the culture and society that uses them. New words and phrases are created with particular meanings, and existing words and phrases are given new meanings, because those new meanings serve the purposes of those who use them, and old meanings no longer do. The Founders of the United States undeniably wanted and needed to start a brand new legal tradition, based on the principles of government in which they believed, and not based on those of the nation whose government and political traditions they had fought and died to repudiate and discard.
Breaking their allegiance to the King, severing the ties of community and nationality, establishing a new anti-monarchist Republic based on a new political philosophy cannot fail to require new principles, new words and new meanings for old words. So, even if English common law terminology served as the foundational seed for the US Constitution, there would still be every reason to assume that the Founders would have made any necessary and proper changes to the legal principles and to the semantics of any terms of art they may have incorporated from English common law (which, of course, they may have done even if they used the pan-European theories of natural law, and the "law of nations" as the foundational framework for the new nation they created.)
Questions of citizenship are inextricably linked to the relationship between a state and its people, which depends fundamentally on the political theory according to which the people of a nation constitute and operate their government. English common law evolved to fit a political theory according to which it was a natural law that a nation would be ruled by a sovereign who was a single human being (a king or queen,) and a natural law that, in exchange for the protection of the sovereign and his permission to reside in the territory the sovereign rules by divine right a person must from the moment of birth onward be "in allegiance to the king," which means to demonstrate loyalty and obedience to him (or to her, if the sovereign is the Queen.)
English natural-born subjects owed perpetual allegiance to the king based on the circumstance of their birth, regardless of their own self-determination. Therefore, if you believe that English common law guided the formation of the U.S. national government, to be consistent you should also believe that U.S. citizenship was based on the principle of owing allegiance to the sovereign based on the circumstances of one's birth regardless of one's own will, and that U.S. citizens therefore do not have the right of expatriation.
On the other hand, European political and natural law theorists, such as de Vattel, taught that children, at birth, acquire citizenship by descent from their fathers, and that expatriation is a basic human right. Thus, if you believe that European theorists influenced the Founding Fathers as they wrote the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, to be consistent you should also believe that the Founding Fathers' understanding of citizenship included the jus sanguinis principle and the right of expatriation.
After gaining independence, the original thirteen States retained aspects of English common law, including the statutory rule which granted citizenship to children of alien parents who, though not yet citizens, had sworn an oath of allegiance to the State and had established permanent legal residence, or domicile, within the State:
While all States could be said to have recognized birth within the State as a means of conferring State citizenship to all persons, it is important to realize these States also required of aliens who desired to become domiciled within their limits to first renounce any allegiances to other governments and pledge their allegiance solely to the State. Therefore, a child born to domiciled parents was "born within the allegiance" of the State even if the parents had not yet been naturalized. (What 'Subject to the Jurisdiction Thereof' Really Means ~ Madison(2007))
However, the early framers of the Federal government seemed disinclined to follow the English understanding of sovereignty and allegiance. For example, Thomas Jefferson rejected the English common law notion of perpetual allegiance, and affirmed each individual's right of expatriation:
That our citizens are certainly free to divest themselves of that character, by emigration and other acts manifesting their intention and may then become the subjects of another power and be free to do whatever the subjects of that power do. (Thomas Jefferson, as quoted by Webster, p.76)
If the Framers of the Constitution intended to closely follow English common law with regards to matters of citizenship, then of course the ontological model of US citizenship would be intentionally analogous to that of British law at the time the Constitution was drafted If so, then anyone born in the United States to parents who are US citizens would have a citizenship status analogous to a subject born, and their status as citizens would be beyond possibility of dispute.
However, the Constitutional status (per original intent, not per current court precedent) of those born in the United States to parents who are permanent legal residents would be far less clear, simply because of the uncertainties regarding the distinctions between common and statutory law, between declaratory and non-declaratory statutes, and regarding the meaning of "actual obedience." Some would qualify as naturalized citizens (subjects made), but some would not.
What would be irrefutable, however, is that those born to parents who were mere "foreigners" (as opposed to "alien friends,") or who were "alien enemies," would not qualify even as citizens if the meaning of that term is in fact intended to be analogous to the semantics of "natural born subject" as defined in 18th-century British law. That would exclude persons whose fathers were not legal permanent residents of the United States (except in cases where the person's father was unknown.)
On the other hand, if the Founding Fathers were guided by European political and natural law theorists, such as de Vattel, the original meaning of "natural born citizen" probably included the jus sanguinis principle; in which case, you cannot be a U.S. natural born citizen unless your father was a U.S citizen at the time of your birth.
In 1884, an article was published in The American Law Review written by George D. Collins, Esq. Attorney Collins was the Secretary of the California Bar Association. His name was recognized nationally for cases in the federal courts, and also due to his regular publishing of articles via The American Law review. The article was entitled "ARE PERSONS BORN IN THE UNITED STATES IPSO FACTO CITIZENS THEREOF?", and was an in depth discussion and review of the legalities of US citizenship. Attorney Collins states:
There is nothing in the constitution to indicate that the term "citizen" was used in reference to the common-law definition of "subject," nor is there any act of Congress declaratory of the common-law doctrine, and the subject of citizenship being national, questions relating to it are to be determined by the general principles of the law of nations.
The Founders not only rejected the idea that English common law in general was the basis of the US Constitution, they also specifically objected to the use of the British definition of "natural born subject." They actually fought yet a second war against the British over precisely the issue of whether or not the British definition of "natural born subject" applied to US citizens: The War of 1812!
One of they key disagreements between the US and Britain that led to the War of 1812 was the practice of the British Navy of impressing into British naval service sailors (and even passengers) they found on ships at sea. "Drafting" people into military service (to use the modern term) was predicated on the British definition of "natural born subject." Under British law then and now, anyone either born on British soil or born to parents who were British subjects was also a British "natural born subject," and hence owed allegiance to the British Crown, and so could be "impressed" (drafted) into British military service.
In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, many US citizens had either been born on British soil according to British law (the American colonies were British soil according to British law until the Crown signed the peace treaty with its former colonies,) or else had parents who were British subjects at the time of their birth. The US government strenuously objected to having its citizens kidnapped from ships at sea in order to be impressed into the British Navy, rejected the argument that Britain had any right to do this based on the British definition of "natural born subject," and insisted that on US ships at sea, only US law applied, and on non-British ships, only the "law of nations" applied. And this objection by the US would only have been logically consistent if the US had categorically rejected the British definition of "natural born subject," and if that rejection involved issues in addition to the difference between a subject and a citizen.
In addition to going to war, the US took other measures to deal with the problem of having its sailors impressed into the British Navy: On February 9, 1813, the US House of Representatives passed a law that required that all the officers and three fourths of the seamen on a ship of the United States be natural born citizens. Whatever "natural born citizen" meant to the founding generation (many of whom were still alive and serving in Congress at the time,) the US Congress of 1813 thought that requiring a person to be such would prevent the British definition of "natural born subject" from applying to such a person—which means that a "natural born citizen" of the US could not have been born on British soil, nor could a "natural born citizen" of the US have even one British parent.
no fair using facts/s
That's why the political writings of the time constantly and incessantly refer to "natural law." The point was to claim that the concepts, principles, rules or laws under discussion were derived by reason and logic from objective facts, and not merely the remnants of irrational cultural traditions or political edicts. It was the Age Of Reason, and naturalness was its standard of validity and truth.
When the US Constitution was written, the "natural law" that dealt with issues such as nationality and allegiance to a sovereign was called "the law of nations." Modernly, we call this "international law." In 1788, the preeminent codification, description and explanation of "the law of nations" was a work written by Emerich de Vattel, entitled THE LAW OF NATIONS, or principles of the law of nature applied to the conduct and affairs of nations and sovereigns:
In his highly influential Droits des Gens (1758) ["Law of Nations"], Emer de Vattel presented the law of nations as simply the law of nature of individuals in the state of nature applied to states.[23] Vattel disagreed, however, with Hobbes (and Pufendorf) that “the maxims of the law of nature and those of the law of nations were precisely the same”.[24] Nations and individuals were very different entities and there subsequently results, Vattel wrote, “in many cases, very different obligations and rights”.[25] This was particularly true when it came to international commercial relations which, from Vattel’s standpoint, increasingly formed the subject matter of the law of nations. Discerning these differences involved “the art of thus applying [the law of nature] with a precision founded on right reason”. It was this, Vattel added, “that renders the law of nations a distinct science”.[26] With this reference to “right reason”, we find a very faint echo of the classical, Thomistic, and early-modern natural law tradition of conceptualizing the ius gentium. ~ NATURAL LAW and the LAW of NATIONS, Samuel Gregg, Acton Institute
The Founders were not only familiar with de Vattel's treatise, they relied on it extensively when they wrote laws and Constitutions (of their respective States, not just the Federal one.)
In Section 212 of de Vattel's treatise, he states the following:
§ 212. Of the citizens and natives.“The citizens are the members of the civil society; bound to this society by certain duties, and subject to its authority, they equally participate in its advantages. The natives, or natural-born citizens, are those born in the country, of parents who are citizens. As the society cannot exist and perpetuate itself otherwise than by the children of the citizens, those children naturally follow the condition of their fathers, and succeed to all their rights. The society is supposed to desire this, in consequence of what it owes to its own preservation; and it is presumed, as matter of course, that each citizen, on entering into society, reserves to his children the right of becoming members of it. The country of the fathers is therefore that of the children; and these become true citizens merely by their tacit consent. We shall soon see whether, on their coming to the years of discretion, they may renounce their right, and what they owe to the society in which they were born. I say, that, in order to be of the country, it is necessary that a person be born of a father who is a citizen; for, if he is born there of a foreigner, it will be only the place of his birth, and not his country.”
Note that de Vattel defines "natural born citizen" as the purest form of citizenship, requiring both jus soli ("law of the soil") citizenship and jus sanguinis ("law of the blood") citizenship—with BOTH parents being citizens.
But de Vattel wrote in French, not in English. In French, the words he used instead of the English "natural born citizens" were "les naturels, ou indigenes." Literally, "les naturels, ou indigenes" translates as "the natural ones, or original inhabitants." Note that "les naturels" does not translate as "natives." For “naturel” to mean native the word would need to be used as an adjective. In the quoted section, it is used as a noun. In fact, when de Vattel defines "natural born citizens" in the second sentence of section 212 after defining general or ordinary citizens in the first sentence, you see that he uses the word "indigenes" meaning "natives" (in the sense of "original inhabitants") along with "Les naturels" in that sentence. He used the noun "naturels" to emphasize clearly who he was defining as those who were born in the country of two citizens of the country, because if your parents were indigenes ("original inhabitants," "natives") then your status of being a member of their society, of their nation, would devolve upon you by the jus sanguinis principle of natural law—making you a natural inhabitant, citizen and member of the society. Also, when we read Vattel, we must understand that Vattel's use of the word "natives" in 1758 is not to be read with modern day various alternative usages of that word. You must read it in the full context of sentence 2 of section 212 to fully understand what Vattel was defining from natural law, i.e., natural born citizenship of a country. Please see the photograph of the original French for Chapter 19, Section 212, here in the original French if you have any doubts.
The text of de Vattel's treatise was translated into English more than once, some of those translations being published well before the American Revolution. None of those pre-Revolutionary translations rendered "les naturels, ou indigenes" into English as "natural born citizens" The first that did so was published in 1797, 10 years following the Constitutional Convention, 8 years following the adoption of the Constitution, and 8 years following the publication of Dr. Ramsay's essay on US citizenship—where "natural born citizen" is defined by the Founder/historian to have precisely the same meaning as the one de Vattel establishes for "les naturels, ou indigenes."
In two primary election cycles and two national elections did any opposition candidate raise it as an issue?
Was it of concern to more than 60 million voters in 2008 and in 2012?
I see no reason why it will play a role in 2016’s election cycle.
Senator Cruz= 4 years as a Canadian and 38 years as an American.
Regarding the Naturalization Act of 1790, this was rewritten by the next Congress with the granting of "natural-born citizen" status to those born of US Citizen parents abroad stricken out. This was undoubtedly because of the realization that a natural-born citizen is one whose citizenship exists from the moment of their birth, without the benefit of any Act or Amendment.
No, a U.S. citizen can also be a citizen of a state. In fact, in order to be a Congressman or a Senator, one must be both a United States citizen and an inhabitant of the state being represented (when elected).
A citizen of the United States who permanently resides in Washington, DC is not a citizen of any state. He or she is a citizen of the United States only.
Your quote from Colgate v. Harvey is merely stating that sone of your rights result from your status as a citizen of the Unites States (e.g., your Constitutional right as a woman to vote) and some of your rights might come from your status as a citizen of a particular state (e.g., your right to vote for the mayor of your city).
If you find a quote from someone to the effect that there is no such thing as U.S. citizenship, you should assume that the quote was made by someone who hadn't yet read the Constitution. Such was the case with your Jay quote. When he wrote what you quoted, he hadn't yet read the Constitution and that is because it hadn't yet been drafted.
No one can read the Constitution without noticing that it repeatedly refers to "citizen of the United States." It also refers to state citizenship. Clearly, the Constitution indicates that a person can be both a citizen of the United States and also (at the same time) a citizen of a state.
Quite so. However, in #11, you posted that Jindal's parents had "every intention of returning to India (I believe) their native country." Obviously, if that was the case, they changed their minds. Both of Jindal's parents are now naturalized and are useful citizens, apart from contributing Bobby to our gene pool.
So, we’re talking of a guy who was born to non-citizen parents while they were on student visas in the USA.
Nope. They were admitted based on Amar Jindal's professional qualifications, not on Raj Jindal's admission to graduate study at LSU. As noted in the Times-Picayune:
Before the 1965 immigration reform law, immigration from Eastern Hemisphere counties, like India, was limited. But the 1965 act permitted greater immigration through a variety of categories, including "professionals, scientists and artists of exceptional ability."Amar Jindal's passport is notated with the code P3-1, the visa code in 1971 for "professional or highly skilled." And Raj Jindal received her green card as his spouse.
They could also have been admitted on a student visa issued to Raj, but then Amar would not have been authorized to work. So, obviously, they took the better course.
It’s pretty much irrelevant, though, because from what I understand, current law interprets anyone physically born in the USA as being a native born citizen, with the exception perhaps of children of diplomatic parents.
Yep. It's that pesky Fourteenth. NBC means citizen by birth, so Bobby qualifies.
As a native born citizen, Jindal can run for any office, and pretty much has.
Two terms in the House. Twice elected governor on the first ballot, the second time with 66%. The guy's only 42. Is the top job next?
His mother was 18 years old, so if she were out of country at the time of Obama's birth, then she would not have met the 5 years after 14 years residency requirement.
The age requirement only applied to married women. That means, even if it were shown that Anarchist Annie dropped him in Mombasa, Little Barry Bastard would still be qualified because Stanley Ann was not validly married to BHO, Sr., their marriage having been bigamous. (Just stirring the tea leaves.)
That pesky 14th amendment in my copy of the Constitution speaks to just ‘citizen’ AND being subject to the jurisdiction of the USA. It is not explicit that as to such being born ‘ARE’ subject to the jurisdiction. I suspect there could be a court ruling that makes ‘and’ the same as ‘are’.
I’m not familiar with that marriage history.
BHO, Sr., already had a wife named Kezia back in Kenya. And the INS even had an inkling at the time, as Sally Jacobs wrote in 2011:
In spring 1961, during Obama’s second year as an undergraduate at the University of Hawaii, Sumi McCabe, the school’s foreign student adviser, raised the first questions about Obama’s marital status.In April 1961, McCabe called immigration officials and expressed concern that Obama had recently married a young woman named Stanley Ann Dunham — who would become president Obama’s mother. She was concerned because Obama already had a wife back in Kenya, according to a memo written by Lyle H. Dahling, an administrator in INS’s Honolulu office. What’s more, McCabe told the INS office that Obama, “has been running around with several girls since he first arrived here and last summer she cautioned him about his playboy ways. [Obama] replied that he would ‘try’ to stay away from the girls,’’ according to the memo.
Neither McCabe nor Dahling knew quite what to think about Obama’s womanizing. Obama is a member of one of Kenya’s ethnic group’s known as the Luo, among whom polygamy is common. Obama told McCabe that in Kenya, “all that is necessary to be divorced is to tell the wife that she is divorced . . . [Obama] claims to have been divorced from his wife in Kenya in this method,’’ according to the memo.
But Obama was not divorced at all, according to his first wife, who was living in Kenya with their two children at the time he married Dunham in February 1961. Grace Kezia Obama, now 70, lives in Bracknell, England, and maintains that she remained married to the elder Obama until his death in 1982.
INS officials considered whether Obama could be deported if he were convicted of bigamy, but decided against it. Instead, they decided that Obama “should be closely questioned before another extension is granted — and denial be considered.’’
Jacobs turned her extensive FOIA research into a book: The Other Barack: The Bold and Reckless Life of President Obama's Father ($27.99 $3.14 hardcover, via Amazon Prime).
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