My FReeper friend X answered this much more succinctly than I have often done, so I'll quote him on this.
Trump Says Birthright Citizenship Was Only for the Children of Slaves. He’s Wrong.
X said: That we could have had the amendment for 50 years or so without America Indians being citizens suggests that Trump may, odd as it may seem, have been right.
I went ahead and asked Grok, and sure enough, the answer could not have been more obvious.
Yes, members of Congress in 1866 (the Amendment was proposed by the 39th Congress in June 1866 and ratified in 1868; the relevant debates occurred then, shortly after the Civil War ended in 1865) understood the phrase "subject to the jurisdiction thereof" in the 14th Amendment's Citizenship Clause with precision and clarity.Key evidence from the Congressional Globe (the official record):
Senator Lyman Trumbull (R-IL), Chairman of the Judiciary Committee and author of the related Civil Rights Act of 1866, defined it as “subject to the complete jurisdiction thereof” — i.e., “not owing allegiance to anybody else.” He contrasted this with Native Americans in tribal relations (treated as owing allegiance to tribes, like foreign powers) and temporary residents.
And who indoctrinated Americans today(2026) to no longer have knowledge of what this phrase means? Who owns the schools k-12 and universities.
Progressives. The progressives did this to us.
Progressivism is America's Cancer.
President Trump is incorrect.
There was a large group of US manumitted blacks ("Free Blacks") that had children. Manumitted blacks were not slaves, but were not citizens. So that's one category besides slaves.
Then there's free blacks that immigrated to the US, many from Haiti after the slave revolts. Sometimes called "free people of color", they also were not slaves, but were not citizens. That was another group that were not slaves.
Then there's children born of male slaves and free (or indentured) white women. Called "mulattos" at the time, they were also not slaves but not citizens. In this latter group, because the children were the descendants of African slaves on the father's side, they could not be considered US citizens once Dred Scott v. Sandford. So a third group that were not slaves.
All three groups had children, yet were not considered slaves under Federal law. All three groups had children that would become citizens immediately after the ratification of the 14th Amendment.