Quote:
Originally Posted by razark
Please state that meaning, and the source.
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At this time (I'm at work) I can only add to my previous examples:
The Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787
by James Madison
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(5) 'Sect. 2. No person except a natural born citizen or a Citizen of the U. S. at the time of the adoption of this Constitution shall be eligible to the office of President; nor shall any person be elected to that office, who shall be under the age of thirty five years, and who has not been in the whole, at least fourteen years a resident within the U. S.'
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http://www.constitution.org/dfc/dfc_0904.htm
Vattel: The law of Nations, book 1
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§ 212. Citizens and natives.
The citizens are the members of the civil society; bound to this society by certain duties, and subject to its authority, they equally participate in its advantages. The natives, or natural-born citizens, are those born in the country, of parents who are citizens. As the society cannot exist and perpetuate itself otherwise than by the children of the citizens, those children naturally follow the condition of their fathers, and succeed to all their rights. The society is supposed to desire this, in consequence of what it owes to its own preservation; and it is presumed, as matter of course, that each citizen, on entering into society, reserves to his children the right of becoming members of it. The country of the fathers is therefore that of the children; and these become true citizens merely by their tacit consent. We shall soon see whether, on their coming to the years of discretion, they may renounce their right, and what they owe to the society in which they were born. I say, that, in order to be of the country, it is necessary that a person be born of a father who is a citizen; for, if he is born there of a foreigner, it will be only the place of his birth, and not his country.
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http://www.constitution.org/vattel/vattel_01.htm
http://www.constitution.org/ussc/98-0097c.htm
Also, read the last paragraph in a dissent by Justice Thomas.
I'll pull out my Franklin and congressional congress quotes when I get home, but as SCOTUS hasn't directly addressed the 'natural born citizenship' requirement it's difficult to quote any caselaw. I'm feeling a bit like a baited rabbit who peeks out from behind a rock, while a dozen guns take aim.