The speech discusses the concept of Birthright citizenship, its historical origins, and its influence on the United States' legal framework.
Birthright citizenship, also known as the doctrine of use solely or right of soil, is the principle that a person born within a particular territory is automatically a citizen of that place. This concept has roots in English common law and the feudal system, where allegiance to the sovereign was considered a birthright. However, this idea didn't carry the welcoming connotation it has today.
The American founding fathers explicitly rejected the concept of Birthright citizenship. James Wilson, a Supreme Court justice, stated that under the Constitution, there are citizens but no subjects. Citizenship in a free self-governing regime is different from subjection. The Massachusetts Constitution of 1780, which formed the body politic through a voluntary association of individuals, further emphasizes this point.
The 14th Amendment is often misunderstood to confer Birthright citizenship on all persons born in United States territory. However, Section 1 of the 14th Amendment stipulates that all persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to its jurisdiction shall be citizens. This means that being a citizen requires two things: being born or naturalized in the United States, and being subject to its jurisdiction.
The speech argues that the Supreme Court's decision in the Wong Kim Ark case in 1898, which upheld Birthright citizenship, was incorrect. The Court ignored documentary evidence that contradicted this interpretation and instead asserted that Birthright citizenship was what the founders meant. Since then, the principle of Birthright citizenship has been largely accepted, despite the fact that it contradicts the founders' conception of citizenship based on consent.
The speech concludes by highlighting the contradiction between the Court's assertion of Birthright citizenship and the Justice's own earlier statement denying the idea of feudal obligation.
1. Birthright citizenship is a concept that originated from the English common law and was adopted in the early United States. It states that if you are born in a particular place, then you are a citizen of that place.
2. This idea of Birthright citizenship is a relic of English or European feudalism. In feudalism, one's status was defined by their birth, and they were tied to the land of their birth.
3. The American founding fathers explicitly rejected this concept of Birthright citizenship. James Wilson, in the early Supreme Court case Chisholm V Georgia, stated that under the Constitution, there are citizens but no subjects.
4. The Massachusetts Constitution, written in 1780, also rejects the concept of Birthright citizenship. It states that the body politic is formed by a voluntary Association of individuals, and political obligation is not the result of birth but the consequence of the voluntary consent of free individuals.
5. The 14th Amendment confers Birthright citizenship on all persons born in United States Sovereign territory, but this is problematic as it doesn't represent an accurate reading of the text.
6. According to the Constitution, every provision means something and it's not redundant. Being born in the United States and being subject to the jurisdiction of the United States are two separate additional requirements for citizenship.
7. The 14th Amendment's intent was to confer citizenship upon freed slaves, persons who were born in the United States almost without exception and had no other obligation of citizenship.
8. In the 1860s, the framers of the 14th Amendment were attempting to get rid of the notion of Birthright obligation and extend to freed slaves the natural law conception of citizenship based on free consent.
9. Jefferson's understanding of the natural right of individuals to leave one jurisdiction, settle somewhere else, and either establish a new regime or become a citizen is followed in the 1860s.
10. The Supreme Court towards the end of the 19th century, in a case called United States V Wong Kim Ark, sided with Wong Kim Ark and said yes he is a citizen, reinstating the principle of Birthright citizenship.