 Introduction
The Debate in the Senate - Sen. Howard's Previous Remarks The Debate in the Senate – Sen. Wade’s Proposal The Debate in the Senate - Sen. Howard’s Amendment The Debate in the Senate - Complete Jurisdiction The Debate in the Senate - More on Complete Jurisdiction The Debate in the Senate - Sovereignty Over the Soil U.S. vs. Wong Kim Ark - British Citizenship During the latter half of the 19th century, the Republican controlled congress passed several laws which were known collectively as the Chinese Exclusion Acts. These acts were designed specifically to prevent Chinese laborers from entering the United States, and in August, 1895, Wong Kim Ark who had been born in America to Chinese parents was forbidden entry back into the United States. The U.S. attorney claimed that Wong was not a citizen because he was born to parents who were subjects of Emperor of China. Thus their child was not born subject to the jurisdiction of the United States even though he was born within the borders of America. The Supreme Court stated the question to be decided as:
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 Introduction
The Debate in the Senate - Sen. Howard's Previous Remarks The Debate in the Senate – Sen. Wade’s Proposal The Debate in the Senate - Sen. Howard’s Amendment The Debate in the Senate - Complete Jurisdiction The Debate in the Senate - More on Complete Jurisdiction The Debate in the Senate - Sovereignty Over the Soil As the debate over this section of the proposed amendment drew to a close, Senator Hendricks asked if he could pose one more question to Sen. Trumbull. Sen. Hendricks wanted to know if it was true that the government of the United States could choose at any time to govern the Indians by direct law thus bringing them under our jurisdiction. This was a very insightful question, and the responses from Sen. Trumbull and Sen. Howard to this question solidified the meaning of the phrase “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” as a requirement for birthright citizenship.  Introduction
The Debate in the Senate - Sen. Howard's Previous Remarks The Debate in the Senate – Sen. Wade’s Proposal The Debate in the Senate - Sen. Howard’s Amendment The Debate in the Senate - Complete Jurisdiction The Debate in the Senate - More on Complete Jurisdiction Sen. Trumbull did not stop with just these few statements in his explanation for why the Indians were not within the jurisdiction of the United States, but his train of argument was interrupted by Senator Wade who asserted that certain Indians should be made citizens by the proposed amendment. Sen. Trumbull actually agreed with Sen. Wade and explained that if some Indians were to buy land in Colorado, for example, and  Introduction
The Debate in the Senate - Sen. Howard's Previous Remarks The Debate in the Senate – Sen. Wade’s Proposal The Debate in the Senate - Sen. Howard’s Amendment The Debate in the Senate - Complete Jurisdiction Senator Howard’s proposal received two objections in the Senate debate. First, Senator Doolittle asked if the proposed amendment would grant citizenship to the children of Indians. Then, Senator Cowan asked if the amendment would grant citizenship to the children of undesirable foreigners. We will consider the responses to both of these challenges beginning with the question about the amendment’s application to Indians.  Introduction
The Debate in the Senate - Sen. Howard's Previous Remarks The Debate in the Senate – Sen. Wade’s Proposal The Debate in the Senate - Sen. Howard’s Amendment It was at this point in the citizenship debate that Sen. Howard offered his amendment to Section 1. He proposed that an additional sentence be added to the section to clarify once and for all exactly which people could claim the rights which were guaranteed to citizens of the United States. The amended section would read:  Introduction
The Debate in the Senate - Sen. Howard's Previous Remarks The Debate in the Senate – Sen. Wade’s Proposal At this point, Sen. Howard moved on to discussing the other sections of the proposed Amendment, but after he finished, Senator Benjamin Wade rose to address the Senate. Sen. Wade proposed an amendment to Section 1 that would clarify the use of the word “citizen” in the proposed 14th Amendment. He began by explaining that he had  Introduction
The Debate in the Senate – Sen. Howard’s Previous Remarks When the 14th Amendment was submitted to the Senate for discussion, it did not include the first sentence of Section 1. The rest of the section was the same, but the first sentence was an amendment that was added by Senator Howard on May 30, 1866. When he introduced this amendment to the Senate, Sen. Howard explained:  The question of birthright citizenship has received a lot of attention lately. President Trump’s announcement that he was considering an executive order to deny citizenship to the children of illegal aliens sent many Americans searching for either a defense or a refutation of the President’s decision. Most of the resulting discussions and debates have centered around two documents that have, not surprisingly, been hastily mishandled by parties on both sides of the debate. Those two documents are the records of the Senate debate over the 14th Amendment as published by the Congressional Globe and the opinion of the Supreme Court in the case United States v. Wong Kim Ark. In this article, we will examine both of these documents to see whether they support or reprove President Trump’s intentions. |
Bill Fortenberry is a Christian philosopher and historian in Birmingham, AL. Bill's work has been cited in several legal journals, and he has appeared as a guest on shows including The Dr. Gina Show, The Michael Hart Show, and Real Science Radio.
Contact Us if you would like to schedule Bill to speak to your church, group, or club. "Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning." (Proverbs 9:9)
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