"While Minister to France in 1778, he [Silas Deane] wrote to Mr. Jay as follows:
Native citizens , on several valuable accounts, are preferable to aliens, or citizens alien-born , Native citizens possess our language, know our laws, customs and commerce have general acquaintance in the United States give better satisfaction, and, are more to be relied on in points of fidelity . To avail ourselves of native citizens, it appears to me to be advisable to declare by standing law, that no person, but a native citizen , shall be capable of the office of consul."
The above from:
Collection: The Civil War
Publication: VINCENNES GAZETTE
Date: September 19, 1855
Title: WEDNESDAY,::: SEPTEMBER 12.
Location: VINCENNES, IND.
"...But we do not rely upon their inconsistencies for our justification. We go to the Constitution of the United States, which every member of the American party is solemnly pledged to support and maintain.
From that instrument we learn that in 1787, when there were comparatively but few upon our soil owing allegiance to foreign power, the wise farmers of our Constitution, imbued with the same spirit of Native Americanism which now animates us, declared:
1st. No person, except a natural born citizen , shall be eligible to the office of President.
2nd. The Vice-President of the United States must have the same qualifications as the President.
3rd. No person shall be Senator until he has been nine years a citizen of the United States.
4th. No person shall be a Representative in Congress until he has been seven years a citizen of the United States.
5th. The President is Commander-In-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States; therefore, such Commander-In-Chief must be a native born American citizen.
[Notice here, #1 and #5, natural born and native born are used synonymously. Native born and natural born were synonymous then. See previous page for a number of examples.]
It was to guard against foreign influence —then in its infancy, but even then regarded with a distrustful and jealous eye—that these wise provisions were embodied in our Constitution.
No one will pretend to say that these restrictions in the Constitution are proscriptive.
How than can we be termed proscriptive, when—in view of the fact that foreigners are landed upon our shores at the rate of one thousand each day, and are led up to our ballot-boxes almost as soon as they arrive —we simply extend the Constitutional restriction by declaring that we will not elect to any office any other than those who under the Constitution can be elected President, or take the command of our Army and navy?..."
It appears they were looking to extend the "natural born Citizen" requirement to other office holders...as was originally considered by the several states during the ratification of the Constitution.