[Abd al-Rahiim]

John Marshall, certainly the most renowned and authoritive jurist of the time, on the other hand, goes directly to Vattel's relevant section and says that it is controlling.

If you're talking about "The Venus, 12 U.S. 8 Cranch 253 253 (1814)," then I'd like to note the following:

1. Justice Bushrod Washington delivered the Opinion of the Court, not Chief Justice Marshall.
2. Chief Justice Marshall cited de Vattel in his CONCURRING opinion. Since when is a concurring opinion controlling?
3. The translation Chief Justice Marshall used did not use "natural-born citizen"! Rather, it stated, "The natives or indigenes are those born in the country of parents who are citizens," which is almost a literal translation of de Vattel's French.
4. The phrase "natural-born" or "natural born," without the hyphen, doesn't appear anywhere in any of the Opinions to Venus.

[AmericanVictory]

I never said that Marshall wrote the majority opinion but what he said is quite clear in his reference to Vattel’s phrasing as being the source of the concept. He scarcely can have been referring to anything else. As such I believe he carries geater weight and is more persuasive than yourself. And what about St. George Tucker?