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To: DiogenesLamp

The ancient origins of citizenship centered around being a member of the civil society of a city-state and later of an empire centered upon a founding city-state. Due to the historical origins of the Dutch nation, their citizenship rested upon a continuation of the emphasis upon the city-state as the basis for citizenship, which is still reflected in the citizenship of the Netherlands. This history of disparate social groups forming a confederated national government and identity was one of the great influences upon the Founders in addition to the Swiss Confederation. The North American British Colonies were also made up of many dissimilar societies speaking many languages and accustomed to many different legal systems, unlike England. The Dutch experience, New Netherlands and New Amsterdam, and the Swiss Confederation experience served as role models in part for the Congress to unify its own disparate cultures among the British North American Colonies and their colonial citziens. See:

History of Dutch nationality
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Dutch_nationality


270 posted on 03/21/2016 7:17:29 PM PDT by WhiskeyX
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To: WhiskeyX
I hate to be dense here, but I don't grasp where any of that has anything to do with the word "Citizen."

The word "Citizen" is from French, and it's usage as describing a member of a Nation-State began in the late 14th century. As near as I can tell, it was used in the Swiss Charte des prêtres of 1370.

" N'importe qui, étranger ou indigène, hôte ou citoyen d'une ville ou d'un pays, quel que soit son titre, doit pouvoir voyager dans tous nos districts et territoires, et aussi dans ceux des gens qui dépendent de nous, sans danger aucun pour sa personne et ses biens, et nul ne doit l'inquiéter, l'arrêter ou lui causer un dommage."

Which is more or less when the real Swiss confederacy began.

My point here is that the founder's usage of the word did not come from England. They used the word in the meaning used by the Swiss.

272 posted on 03/21/2016 9:01:12 PM PDT by DiogenesLamp ("of parents owing allegiance to no other sovereignty.")
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