Replies

The 14th created a new entity that never existed prior - the creation of the 'American citizen'. Prior to the 14th, The People were citizens of the several (severable) states. With the 14th, People were BOTH citizens of the state of their domicile PLUS an American citizen.

This is clearly wrong.

Article I Section 2

No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.

Article I Section 3

No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.

Article II Section 1

No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President...

Article III Section 2 (later modified by the 11th amendment)

The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority; to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls; to all Cases of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction; to Controversies to which the United States shall be a Party; to Controversies between two or more States; between a State and Citizens of another State; between Citizens of different States; between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands under Grants of different States, and between a State, or the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects.
Amendment 11
The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State.

Article IV Section 2

The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.

Amendment 14

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.

As you can see throughout the original text of the Constitution, Article I refers to "citizens of the United States" and "inhabitants of that state". However, Article III (and subsequently Amendment 11) referred to "citizens of the state."

This shows that the Framers of the Constitution implied that "We the People of the United States" were citizens of the "United States of America" and also citizens of our respective states prior to the ratification of the 14th amendment.

As a side note, the phrase "United States of America" only occurs three times in the Constitution, in the Preamble, in Article II Section 1, and in Article VII. Constitutionally speaking, the people were never referred to as "American citizens," but as "Citizens of the United States."

-PJ