tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-964942416721659837.post4148974774203379368..comments2023-10-05T01:42:44.052-07:00Comments on Truth Seeking: Impatience Is Not A Virtue...Stanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13685583498340286004noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-964942416721659837.post-61175890036305716882012-09-30T05:01:10.339-07:002012-09-30T05:01:10.339-07:00It is absurd to say that the writers of the US Con...It is absurd to say that the writers of the US Constitution "did not go by the common law" when the common law is referred to about twenty times in the Federalist Papers and John Jay actually wrote the common law into the first Constitution of the state of New York, which says that unless and until changed by statue of New York State, the common law applies.<br /><br />More importantly there is historical evidence that the American writers at the time understood that when the words Natural Born Citizen were used in the Constitution, they referred to the common law meaning. For example this from 1803, just a few years after the Constitution went into effect:<br /><br /><br />"Prior to the adoption of the constitution, the people inhabiting the different states might be divided into two classes: natural born citizens, or those born within the state, and aliens, or such as were born out of it. The first, by their birth-right, became entitled to all the privileges of citizens; the second, were entitled to none, but such as were held out and given by the laws of the respective states prior to their emigration. ...St. George Tucker, BLACKSTONE'S COMMENTARIES: WITH NOTES OF REFERENCE TO THE CONSTITUTION AND LAWS OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA. (1803)<br /><br />(As you can see, that refers ONLY to the place of birth. There is no mention of parents. Natural Born Citizens were simply "those born within the state.") And this from 1829 by a man who had been friends with many of the writers of the Constitution:<br /><br />"Therefore every person born within the United States, its territories or districts, whether the parents are citizens or aliens, is a natural born citizen in the sense of the Constitution, and entitled to all the rights and privileges appertaining to that capacity."---William Rawle, A VIEW OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 2d ed. (1829)<br /><br />And there is no example of the time of an American leader or any writer using the term Natural Born to refer to parents (not even one parent). Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com