Trump's Supreme Court DISASTER Relies on DARK PAST

Akil Amar emphasizes that the 14th Amendment explicitly states, 'All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens.' He clarifies that 'subject to the jurisdiction thereof' means 'under the flag,' a consistent interpretation by Lincoln's contemporaries like Hannibal Hamlin and Schuyler Colfax. The amendment's text notably omits any mention of parents, bloodline, allegiance, or domicile, directly refuting arguments that citizenship depends on parental status.

The text of the 14th Amendment; statements by Hannibal Hamlin and Schuyler Colfax.

Lincoln's Attorney General, Edward Bates, issued a memo in 1862 stating that all people born in the United States, black or white, are citizens and can receive passports, even if their parents are foreign travelers. Secretary of State William Seward also confirmed this stance to foreign ambassadors. This administrative practice, occurring while Lincoln was alive, directly repudiated the bloodline-based citizenship arguments of the Dred Scott decision and established a clear precedent for birthright citizenship regardless of parental origin.

Edward Bates's 1862 memo; William Seward's letter to a foreign ambassador.

The 14th Amendment was a highly partisan measure, with virtually all Republicans voting for it and every Democrat voting against it. It served as the Republican Party's political platform in the 1866 elections, explaining the purpose of the Civil War to voters. This context demonstrates that the amendment's framers and supporters intended to establish broad birthright citizenship as a fundamental principle, evolving from Lincoln's vision of union and freedom to civil and political equality.

Voting records for the 14th Amendment; historical context of the 1866 Republican platform.

Akil Amar, along with Sydney Blumenthal, exposes how modern arguments against birthright citizenship, particularly those by Randy Barnett and Illan Worman, selectively quote and distort Edward Bates's 1862 memo. They omit Bates's explicit statements that 'every person born in the country is at the moment of birth primmai a citizen' and that birthright citizenship applies to children of 'aliens or foreign-born.' This selective quoting creates a 'bogus' and 'distorted originalism' that contradicts the full historical record.

Randy Barnett and Illan Worman's arguments; full text of Edward Bates's 1862 memo; Steve Ladic's newsletter.

The principle of birthright citizenship, or 'jus soli,' has deep roots in English common law, dating back to Calvin's Case under Sir Edward Coke. This legal tradition held that even children of foreign travelers born within the realm of England were subjects by birth. American republicanized this concept, with cases like Lynch v. Clark affirming that children of foreign sojourners were birthright citizens, a precedent cited by Edward Bates.

Calvin's Case (Sir Edward Coke); Lynch v. Clark; Edward Bates's memo.