[Jeff Winston]

“The laws of the United States fall under three classifications: treaties made under the authority of the United States, the law of nations,(Vattel), and the Constitution and statutes of the United States.” John Jay

And where do we find the meaning of the terms used in the Constitution? Alexander Hamilton told us that we should look to the legal language of the country that we derived our legal system from - England, and the English common law.

So when the Constitution says "natural born," the definition of that term, according to Alexander Hamilton (as well as due to the fact that it occurs NO PLACE ELSE) is to be found in the English common law.

That's it. Period. It's not that hard.

[Ray76]

Natural born citizen is a unitary phrase, no part of it can be changed without changing the meaning of the whole.

[DiogenesLamp]

And where do we find the meaning of the terms used in the Constitution? Alexander Hamilton told us that we should look to the legal language of the country that we derived our legal system from - England, and the English common law.

So when the Constitution says "natural born," the definition of that term, according to Alexander Hamilton (as well as due to the fact that it occurs NO PLACE ELSE) is to be found in the English common law.

That's it. Period. It's not that hard.

No, it's pretty easy to get stuff wrong, especially for you.

In a letter to George Washington, James Madison disagrees with your thinking.

“What can he mean by saying that the Common law is not secured by the new Constitution, though it has been adopted by the State Constitutions. The common law is nothing more than the unwritten law, and is left by all the constitutions equally liable to legislative alterations. I am not sure that any notice is particularly taken of it in the Constitutions of the States. If there is, nothing more is provided than a general declaration that it shall continue along with other branches of law to be in force till legally changed.

Since the Revolution every State has made great inroads & with great propriety in many instances on this monarchical code.

What could the Convention have done? If they had in general terms declared the Common law to be in force, they would have broken in upon the legal Code of every State in the most material points: they wd. have done more, they would have brought over from G.B. a thousand heterogeneous & antirepublican doctrines, and even the ecclesiastical Hierarchy itself, for that is a part of the Common law. If they had undertaken a discrimination, they must have formed a digest of laws, instead of a Constitution.”