Clause 5: No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.
http://www.house.gov/house/Constitution/Constitution.html
not a Cornell website, but a government website
Summary of Case:
“The defendant, Julia Lynch, was born in the City of New York in 1819, of alien (Irish) parents, during their temporary sojourn in that city. She returned with them the same year, to their native country, and always resided there afterwards. It was held that she was a citizen of the United States.” [NYLO at 236].
Excerpt:
“5. It is a necessary consequence, from what I have stated, that the law which had prevailed on this subject, in all the states, became the governing principle or common law of the United States ....[I]t follows, in the absences of a declaration to the contrary, that the principle which prevailed and was the law on such point in all the states, became immediately the governing principle and rule of law thereon in the nation formed by such union. ... If there had been any diversity on the subject in the state laws ... it is reasonable to believe that the framers of the constitution would have borne in mind, and enacted a uniform rule, or authorized Congress to establish one. The entire silence of the constitution in regard to it furnishes a strong confirmation, not only that the existing law of the states was entirely uniform, but that there was no intention to abrogate or change it. The term citizen, was used in the constitution as a word, the meaning of which was already established and well understood. And the constitution itself contains a direct recognition of the subsisting common law principle, in the section which defines the qualification of the President. “No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States at the time of the adoption of this constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President,” ... The only standard which then existed, of a natural born citizen, was the rule of the common law, and no different standard has been adopted since. Suppose a person should be elected President who was native born, but of alien parents, could there be any reasonable doubt that he was eligible under the constitution? I think not. The position would be decisive in his favor that by the [247] rule of the common law, in force when the constitution was adopted, he is a citizen.” [NYLO at 246-47; italics in original].—Supreme Court of the state of New York (1844).
I’ve reviewed that case before it’s apples & oranges and is NOT relevant. Look someone posted this link earlier. This is the be all end all of the NBC debate. Read it and LEARN
http://www.thebirthers.org/misc/logic.htm
not a Cornell website, but a government website
Thank you for confirming that both links have the exact same wording.
My point was that your source wasn’t the BEST source for your info. Why use a liberal college website for your info when you can get it from a government website. You know, go to the source not a second hand source. First hand is better. In this case it doesn’t matter, another time it might. Is factcheck.org one of your premier sites for info as well?