“Lance and torch and tumult, steel and grey-goose wing
Wrenched it, inch and ell and all, slowly from the King”.
The beginnings of civil liberty in America.
The men who founded the American colonies brought these rights across the Atlantic with them. In the new soil civic liberty grew and nourished even better than in the old, so much so that Englishmen at home soon became concerned over the strong emphasis which the colonies were placing upon the civil rights of the individual. The gap between the colonies and Great Britain steadily widened in this respect,—leading in the end to the Declaration of Independence, which asserted the civil rights of men to be natural and inalienable. When independence had been established, after a long and difficult struggle, it is not surprising that the people of the thirteen states should decide to write the principles of civil liberty into their new state constitutions. They took this means of demonstrating their conviction that the fundamental rights of the citizen ought to be inscribed in a solemn document beyond the power of legislatures to change. It would be absurd to think, however, that civil liberty exists in the United States merely because a list of civil rights is written into the constitutions of the states and the nation. In the last analysis civil rights depend for their maintenance and enforcement upon a realization of their value by the whole people and the willingness of every citizen to grant to others the rights which he claims for himself.
Citizenship and allegiance.
Who are Citizens?—The proudest boast of the Roman, in the days when Rome dominated the world was Civis Romanus sum: “I am a Roman citizen”. By this saying he meant that he was entitled to the protection of the most powerful country on earth. Cicero, in one of his orations, declared that these three words would protect any Roman citizen no matter where he went, even among savage tribes. A Roman citizen was one who owed allegiance to Rome. An American citizen is one who owes allegiance to the United States.[[19]] Every man, woman, and child in every part of the world bears a relation to some government, and this relation we call allegiance. There is no such thing, in the eyes of the law, as “a man without a country”. |Citizenship by birth.| This allegiance, or citizenship, is acquired in the great majority of cases by birth. The constitution of the United States declares that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside”. This means that every child born in this country and subject to its jurisdiction is a citizen, no matter who his parents happen to be.[[20]]
Citizenship by naturalization.
The other method of acquiring citizenship is by naturalization. Naturalization is the process by which an alien renounces his original allegiance and swears allegiance to another country. All white aliens, and those of African blood, are entitled to become citizens of the United States by naturalization if they fulfil the legal requirements. The chief requirement is that the alien who seeks to be naturalized must have been continuously a resident of the United States for at least five years. He must also be able to read and write, must have some knowledge of American institutions, must be of good character, and must not be a disbeliever in organized government. |The process in naturalization.| The process of individual naturalization involves two steps, first a formal declaration of intent to become a citizen, and, second, the taking of final letters of citizenship. At least two years, and not more than seven years, must elapse between these two steps. The work of granting citizenship by naturalization is in the hands of such regular courts as are designated by law for this purpose. Applications must be on prescribed forms; evidence as to residence has to be presented; and the oath of allegiance to the United States must be taken. Many thousands of aliens are admitted to citizenship in this way every year.[[21]] The naturalization of a husband also naturalizes his wife without any action on her part. The naturalization of a father makes all his minor children citizens.
Can a Man have Double Citizenship?—Is it possible for anyone to be a citizen of two countries at once? Until recent years it was the practice of some European countries to claim that when their citizens emigrated and became naturalized elsewhere they still retained their original allegiance. Germany, for example, maintained that German emigrants to the United States did not lose their German citizenship by becoming naturalized here. If they subsequently returned to Germany, even for a short time, they were treated as German citizens, required to serve in the army and to perform the other obligations of German citizenship. This situation created a great deal of friction because the naturalized citizens were in the habit of calling upon the United States to protect them against their own original governments. All this has now been straightened out by treaties between the United States and foreign governments in which the latter have conceded the right of emigrants to become naturalized in the United States and by so doing to renounce their original citizenship. The United States, for its part, also concedes the right of any American citizen to become naturalized in a foreign country, thereby renouncing his allegiance as an American citizen. These treaties sometimes provide, however, that if an individual who has been naturalized in the United States goes back to his native country and remains there a certain length of time, he shall be deemed to have given up his American citizenship.
The specific duties of citizens.