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OF OUR NATIVE COUNTRY, AND SEVERAL THINGS THAT RELATE TO IT.</ref>}}

OF OUR NATIVE COUNTRY, AND SEVERAL THINGS THAT RELATE TO IT.</ref>}}

[[Thomas Jefferson]] gave a further definition prior to the drafting of the [[United States Constitution]]: ''"A Natural subject is one born within the king's allegiance & still owing allegiance. No instance can be produced in the English law, nor can it admit the idea of a person's being a natural subject and yet not owing allegiance.  An alien is the subject or citizen of a foreign power."''<ref>Notes by Jefferson, December, 1783, pertaining to letters written by Delegates to Congress</ref>  John Jay, in a letter to [[George Washington]] while he served as president of the Constitutional Convention, went further with a pointed question: "Permit me to hint whether it would not be wise and seasonable to provide a strong check to the admission of foreigners into the administration of our national government; and to declare expressly that the command in chief of the American army shall not be given to, nor devolve on any but a natural born citizen."<ref>http://www.birthers.org/USC/Vattel.html</ref>

[[Thomas Jefferson]] gave a further definition prior to the drafting of the [[United States Constitution]]: ''"A Natural subject is one born within the king's allegiance & still owing allegiance. No instance can be produced in the English law, nor can it admit the idea of a person's being a natural subject and yet not owing allegiance.  An alien is the subject or citizen of a foreign power."''<ref>Notes by Jefferson, December 1783, pertaining to letters written by Delegates to Congress</ref>  John Jay, in a letter to [[George Washington]] while he served as president of the Constitutional Convention, went further with a pointed question: "Permit me to hint whether it would not be wise and seasonable to provide a strong check to the admission of foreigners into the administration of our national government; and to declare expressly that the command in chief of the American army shall not be given to, nor devolve on any but a natural born citizen."<ref>http://www.birthers.org/USC/Vattel.html</ref>

The implication is that the President of the United States should have loyalty to no country other than his own, which is naturally guaranteed by birth to two citizen parents.

The implication is that the President of the United States should have loyalty to no country other than his own, which is naturally guaranteed by birth to two citizen parents.

Jay apparently had some influence on Washington, for when the Convention ended and the new Constitution was ratified, only the qualifications for the office of president in [[United States Constitution:Article II|Article II]] had the term "natural-born"; the qualifications for Senator and Representative in Article I did not: "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...."

Jay apparently had some influence on Washington, for when the Convention ended and the new Constitution was ratified, only the qualifications for the office of president in [[United States Constitution:Article II|Article II]] had the term "natural-born"; the qualifications for Senator and Representative in Article I did not: "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...."

Because the Constitution fails to define the term "natural born Citizen", establishment of its precise meaning would fall to Congress or the courts.  The only US law that has ever employed the exact term "natural born citizen" is the Naturalization Act of 1790:<ref>http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=001/llsl001.db&recNum=227</ref>

Because the Constitution fails to define the term "natural born Citizen", the establishment of its precise meaning would fall to [[Congress]] or the courts.  The only US law that has ever employed the exact term "natural born citizen" is the Naturalization Act of 1790:<ref>http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=001/llsl001.db&recNum=227</ref>

{{quotebox|And the children of citizens of the United States, that may be born beyond sea, or out of the limits of the United States, shall be considered natural born citizens: ''Provided,'' That the right of citizenship shall not descend to persons whose fathers have never been resident in the United States: ''Provided also,'' That no person heretofore proscribed by any state, shall be admitted a citizen as aforesaid, except by an act of the legislature of the state in which such person was proscribed.}}

{{quotebox|And the children of citizens of the United States, that may be born beyond sea, or out of the limits of the United States, shall be considered natural born citizens: ''Provided,'' That the right of citizenship shall not descend to persons whose fathers have never been resident in the United States: ''Provided also,'' That no person heretofore proscribed by any state, shall be admitted a citizen as aforesaid, except by an act of the legislature of the state in which such person was proscribed.}}

Therefore, there is still discussion over exactly who meets the definition of a natural-born citizen.  It is clear that someone who was not a citizen from birth, but acquired citizenship through naturalization, is not one.  One view is that all others, meaning anyone who is a citizen from the moment of birth, are natural-born citizens.  There are arguments that a third category exists, of those who are citizens from birth by law or status, but are not intended to be considered as natural born. The most common reasons given are that the birth did not take place within the US, or that one of the birth parents was not a US citizen.

Therefore, there is still discussion over exactly who meets the definition of a natural-born citizen.  It is clear that someone who was not a citizen from birth, but acquired citizenship through naturalization, is not one.  One view is that all others, meaning anyone who is a citizen from the moment of birth, are natural-born citizens.  There are arguments that a third category exists, of those who are citizens from birth by law or status, but are not intended to be considered as natural born. The most common reasons given are that the birth did not take place within the US, or that one of the birth parents was not a US citizen.

Presidential candidate [[John McCain]] was born to U.S. military parents stationed in the Panama Canal Zone, a territory within Panama which until 1978 was administered by the United States.<ref>http://www.questia.com/library/encyclopedia/panama-canal-zone.jsp</ref>  The Senate passed a nonbinding resolution declaring that he was indeed a natural born citizen.<ref>[http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.uscongress/legislation.110SRes511 S.Res.511]: ''A resolution recognizing that [[John Sidney McCain III]], is a natural born citizen''; sponsors: Sen. [[Claire McCaskill]], Sen. [[Barack Obama]] ''et al.''</ref>

Presidential candidate [[John McCain]] was born to U.S. military parents stationed in the Panama Canal Zone, a territory within Panama which until 1978 was administered by the United States.<ref>http://www.questia.com/library/encyclopedia/panama-canal-zone.jsp</ref>  The Senate passed a nonbinding resolution declaring that he was indeed a natural-born citizen.<ref>[http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.uscongress/legislation.110SRes511 S.Res.511]: ''A resolution recognizing that [[John Sidney McCain III]], is a natural born citizen''; sponsors: Sen. [[Claire McCaskill]], Sen. [[Barack Obama]] ''et al.''</ref>

==U.S. Supreme Court cases that cite natural born citizenship when both parents are citizens, and birthplace is on U.S. soil.==

==U.S. Supreme Court cases that cite natural born citizenship when both parents are citizens, and birthplace is on U.S. soil.==

* Shanks v. Dupont, 28 U.S. 3 Pet. 242 242 (1830)

* Shanks v. Dupont, 28 U.S. 3 Pet. 242 242 (1830)

Ann Scott was born in South Carolina before the American revolution, and her father adhered to the American cause and remained and was at his death a citizen of South Carolina. There is no dispute that his daughter Ann, at the time of the Revolution and afterwards, remained in South Carolina until December, 1782. Whether she was of age during this time does not appear. If she was, then her birth and residence might be deemed to constitute her by election a citizen of South Carolina. If she was not of age, then she might well be deemed under the circumstances of this case to hold the citizenship of her father, for children born in a country, continuing while under age in the family of the father, partake of his national character as a citizen of that country. Her citizenship, then, being prima facie established, and indeed this is admitted in the pleadings, has it ever been lost, or was it lost before the death of her father, so that the estate in question was, upon the descent cast, incapable of vesting in her? Upon the facts stated, it appears to us that it was not lost and that she was capable of taking it at the time of the descent cast.

Ann Scott was born in South Carolina before the [[American Revolution]], and her father adhered to the American cause and remained and was at his death a citizen of South Carolina. There is no dispute that his daughter Ann, at the time of the Revolution and afterward, remained in South Carolina until December 1782. Whether she was of age during this time does not appear. If she was, then her birth and residence might be deemed to constitute her by election a citizen of South Carolina. If she was not of age, then she might well be deemed under the circumstances of this case to hold the citizenship of her father, for children born in a country, continuing while under age in the family of the father, partake of his national character as a citizen of that country. Her citizenship, then, being prima facie established, and indeed this is admitted in the pleadings, has it ever been lost, or was it lost before the death of her father, so that the estate in question was, upon the descent cast, incapable of vesting in her? Upon the facts stated, it appears to us that it was not lost and that she was capable of taking it at the time of the descent cast.

* [[Dred Scott v. Sandford]], 60 U.S. 393 (1857)

* [[Dred Scott v. Sandford]], 60 U.S. 393 (1857)

* Perkins v. Elg, 307 U.S. 325 (1939),

* Perkins v. Elg, 307 U.S. 325 (1939),

was a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States that a child born in the United States to naturalized parents on U.S. soil is a natural born citizen and that the child's natural born citizenship is not lost if the child is taken to and raised in the country of the parents' origin, provided that upon attaining the age of majority, the child elects to retain U.S. citizenship "and to return to the United States to assume its duties." Not only did the court rule that she did not lose her native born Citizenship but it upheld the lower courts decision that she is a "natural born Citizen of the United States" because she was born in the USA to two naturalized U.S. Citizens.

Was a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States that a child born in the United States to naturalized parents on U.S. soil is a natural-born citizen and that the child's natural-born citizenship is not lost if the child is taken to and raised in the country of the parents' origin, provided that upon attaining the age of majority, the child elects to retain U.S. citizenship "and to return to the United States to assume its duties." Not only did the court rule that she did not lose her native-born Citizenship, but it upheld the lower court's decision that she is a "natural born Citizen of the United States" because she was born in the USA to two naturalized U.S. Citizens.

== [[Ann Coulter]]'s analysis ==

== [[Ann Coulter]]'s analysis ==

* [[Marco Rubio]] was born in the US, but his parents were Cuban exiles who were not US citizens at the time.

* [[Marco Rubio]] was born in the US, but his parents were Cuban exiles who were not US citizens at the time.

* [[Bobby Jindal]] was born in the US, but his parents were Indian nationals at the time of his birth.

* [[Bobby Jindal]] was born in the US, but his parents were Indian nationals at the time of his birth.

* [[Ted Cruz]] was born in Canada, his father was Cuban national at the time of his birth.

* [[Ted Cruz]] was born in Canada, his father was a Cuban national at the time of his birth.

[[Donald Trump]] was born in the US to parents who were both American citizens.  His mother was born in [[Scotland]] but naturalized as an American citizen.<ref>https://www.newsmax.com/Newsmax-Tv/roger-stone-donald-trump-mother-ted-cruz/2016/01/15/id/709692/</ref>

[[Donald Trump]] was born in the US to parents who were both American citizens.  His mother was born in [[Scotland]] but naturalized as an American citizen.<ref>https://www.newsmax.com/Newsmax-Tv/roger-stone-donald-trump-mother-ted-cruz/2016/01/15/id/709692/</ref>