According to a handful (so far) of Freepers that’s a fantasy made up by “birthers”. None of the founding fathers ever discussed the NBC terminology they wrote into the Constitution. So apparently it’s just there arbitrarily and doesn’t mean anything special.
LOL
oh please. then please explain why ‘citizen’ was changed to ‘natural born citizen’.
obviously, they had an intention... which they discussed at length before and after the Constitution was created.
only those trying to help the left say it means nothing
Your comment abigail is, of course, complete nonsense. Founder, Framer and arguably our greatist chief justice, John Marshall, was on the Virginia Ratification congress, attended our first law school, at William and Mary in 1781, where Thomas Jefferson chartered the Law School and assigned as its first required text, Vattel’s Law of Nations. Justice Marshall cited Law of Nations in The Venus, 12 US 253 at paragraph 289, and praised Vattel as the most concise source for the common law definition with which they were all familiar - “A natural born citizen is born on the soil to parents who are its citizens.”
It was also discussed at length by our first congressional historian, who was also an interim president of the Congress United before the ratification of the Constitution. That was Dr. David Ramsay, a founder who fought as a field surgeon in South Carolina, historian, president, and prolific author.
There are many others, but the point has been made. You don't honor the usual Obots, many of whom are quite well informed, and who have helped us by asking reasonably informed questions.
As for natural born citizenship not having been defined in The Constitution, try to find any term defined in the Constitution. There actually is one, but the intention was to create a concise definition of the ideas essential to our remaining a republic of laws guaranteeing individual freedom. Madison explained that since the meanings of words change, the only way to create a timeless document was to specify that it was to be understood, as Chief Justice Waite went to pains to explain in Minor v. Happersett, which made the Vattel/Marshall definition stare decisis - precedent - is to insist that its interpretation be based upon the common usage, common language, common law, familiar to the framers.
“So apparently it’s just there arbitrarily and doesn’t mean anything special.”
When the Constitution was written, we did not have Americans posted outside the U.S. (in every stinkin’ country around the world); therefore, this means they were not procreating out side of the U.S.