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Sept. 30, 2024 Editor, The News-Gazette: Since the Age of Kings (circa 1066 through about the 18th century) the knowledge of who and who should not be counted as a citizen of a particular country had always been a serious government concern. Kings had a mutual interest in conserving their “manpower,” because population was roughly equivalent to wealth. So, if a citizen of one country visited a different country, “papers” were required. These passports included requests for safe passage, an extension of courtesy, and an unwritten gentlemen’s agreement between kings not to “steal and keep” another king’s subjects.
The concept of the grant of citizenship and the recognition of state of birth was known as “jurisdiction.” This word embodied the ancient concept that a King had the power of life and death over his citizens.
In Amendment 14 Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens ...”.
Why, if “born or naturalized in the United States” do we need the words: “subject to the jurisdiction thereof”?
The short answer is that all persons born in the U.S. are not subject to American jurisdiction. If their parents are Spanish or Norwegian citizens, those babies are subjects of Spain or Norway.
Looked at from the perspective of classical citizenship and any country’s attempt to hold on to their citizens, especially through childbirth, America has been stealing other country’s citizens since July 9, 1868. DON HENKE Goshen
