>> “Just thinking aloud, after skimming through the Wong Kim Ark majority opinion, that the prevailing wisdom (which I think is in error) holds that “native born” and “natural born” are and always have been synonymous.” <<
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You should read it again.
It holds exactly the opposite. That is why they coined a new term, ‘native citizen,’ rather than using an existing term that they recognized to have a decidedly different meaning.
I think you misunderstand my post. I was saying that the likes of Rogers, etc. find the terms to be synonymous. I don’t.
“That is why they coined a new term, ‘native citizen,’ rather than using an existing term that they recognized to have a decidedly different meaning.”
Hmmm:
““As the President is required to be a native citizen of the United States…. Natives are all persons born within the jurisdiction and allegiance of the United States.”
James Kent, COMMENTARIES ON AMERICAN LAW (1826)
Yet you say WKA coined a “new term”?
The terms have been used interchangeably for years. Remember, Vattel never wrote “natural born citizen”. He wrote about natives, or indigenous. It wasn’t until 10 years AFTER the Constitution was written that a translation was made of Vattel using NBC.