[rxsid]

b.t.w. What difference did the framers intend between a NBC for POTUS and a “citizen” for Reps and Senators? What was the difference between a “natural born” citizen...and a “citizen” in 1787?

[jamese777]

b.t.w. What difference did the framers intend between a NBC for POTUS and a “citizen” for Reps and Senators? What was the difference between a “natural born” citizen...and a “citizen” in 1787?

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Let’s hold a seance and see if we can ask any of them directly.
Here’s what one Framer and the primary author of the Constitution had to say in 1779:
“It is an established maxim that birth is a criterion of allegiance. Birth however derives its force sometimes from place and sometimes from parentage, but in general place is the most certain criterion; it is what applies in the United States; it will therefore be unnecessary to investigate any other.”— James Madison, May 22, 1789
The Founders Constitution: http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/a1_2_2s6.html