[DiogenesLamp]

Except that the definition of natural born citizen is not spelled out as explicitly as the age requirement in the Constitution.

I am reminded of something I read awhile back. A guy said that he had a Polish dictionary from the 1880s. Under definition of "Horse", it said: "Everyone knows what a horse is."

So too was it in 1787. Everyone at the time knew what a "natural born citizen" was, and they didn't think they needed to define it, because everyone involved in putting it into the constitution already understood what it meant.

The 1700s usage of the term "citizen" all stems from Vattel. Prior to 1760, all the English dictionaries I could find defined "citizen" to mean "someone who lives in a city."

Only in Switzerland was the word used to mean someone who was a member of a nation state. It was Vattel's usage of the word which was adopted by Jefferson in writing the Declaration of Independence, and later by the framers writing the US Constitution.

The correct English word for the time period was "subject." They stopped using "subject", because they stopped using the system that produced subjects based on birth on the King's soil.

"Citizen", means Vattel's definition. It is inherent in the usage of the word.

And here is a page from a 1817 law book which specifically says that Vattel was the source for "Citizen".

[TiGuy22]

I think this is fascinating, thank you for taking the time and sharing it. But, by our system of “precedent” it seems SCOTUS has effectively redefined the original intent.

[woodpusher]

And here is a page from a 1817 law book which specifically says that Vattel was the source for "Citizen".

Let me once again provide the title and author of that book and page.

Judge Samuel Roberts, the Court of Common Pleas of Pennsylvania, was the sole author of the book, A Digest of Select British Statutes. There were no co-authors. The book is a recitation of British Statute Law by Judge Roberts.

https://archive.org/details/digestofselectbr00robe

[Jim Noble]

So, according to your article:

My two grandfathers were born in 1893 and 1895, in Brooklyn and Meriden, CT, to four alien parents.

When the War Department registered them for the draft in 1917, both of their draft cards gave three options for citizenship: 1) Natural born; 2) Naturalized; 3) Alien.

Both were classified as natural born.