Description: This essay will share relevant historical context and background information on the United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898) court case. It will also detail the lasting influences of the Supreme Court’s landmark decision and explain why this case deserves much greater recognition than it has received, considering its profound impact on many generations of Americans.
Length: 2401 words
Tonight’s Timeframe . . .
Reconstruction → 1865 - 1877
Gilded Age → 1870s - 1900
Progressive Era → 1890s - 1920
American Imperialism → 1880s - 1914
World War I → 1914 - 1918
The Roaring Twenties → 1920 - 1929
Great Depression & New Deal → 1929 - 1941
World War II → 1941 - 1945
American Legal History II
Citizenship and the 14th Amendment
What is the role of law in society?
How has the definition of citizenship changed over the course of American history? WHY?
Did the 14th Amendment bring about a revolution in citizenship in America?
Citizenship - Background
Is citizenship constitutional or statutory?
Statutory → Naturalization Acts
Constitutional
Is birthright citizenship territorial or national?
Jus Soli (Soil) vs. Jus Sanguinis (Blood)
Subjects vs. Citizens
Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857) → Context
Ongoing Concerns:
Northern enthusiasm
Southern opposition
Enforcement & Reconciliation
Previous denial of citizenship:
Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)
Army Surgeon
Residence in free state/territory
7 - 2 Decision:
Majority Opinion written by Chief Justice Roger Taney
Excerpts
How did the Dred Scott decision restrict citizenship?
How did the Dred Scott decision reflect Antebellum America?
How might the Dred Scott decision have impacted American society?
14th Amendment → Citizenship Clause
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. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
Clarifying Citizenship Under the 14th Amendment
Elk v. Wilkins (1884) - Context
Indian Wars, Expansion, Manifest Destiny
“Going the way of the buffalo . . .”
Warfare and Reservations
1871 → Treaty system eliminated → Railroads
Assimilation → National Unity → Boarding Schools
Dawes Act (1887)
Tribal Land → Individual Parcels
Clarifying Citizenship Under the 14th Amendment
Elk v. Wilkins (1884)
John Elk - Born Winnebago on a Reservation
Renounced Tribal Allegiance → Claimed U.S. Citizenship
Attempted Voter Registration in Omaha
Denied by Voting Registrar (Wilkins)
Elk files suit based on the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment.
Decision:
7 - 2; Majority Opinion written by Justice Gray
Excerpts
Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
How did the Elk decision restrict citizenship?
How did the Elk decision reflect 19th century America?
How might the Elk decision have impacted American society?
19th Century Chinese Immigration & Labor
Declining American Economy and opposition
Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)
Geary Act (1892)
"Because the first duty of governments is to their own citizens, and securing to them protection and enjoyment of their life and liberty the consid ...
With Joe Biden’s apparent substantial setbacks in his cognitive capacity and his advanced age, Kamala Harris is in a more-likely-than-usual position
to assume the office of president.
Yet Kamala Harris is constitutionally ineligible to
be president of the United States because she is not a natural born citizen, as required by Article II
(and, by reference, the 12thAmendment) of the
U.S. Constitution
Tonight’s Timeframe . . .
Reconstruction → 1865 - 1877
Gilded Age → 1870s - 1900
Progressive Era → 1890s - 1920
American Imperialism → 1880s - 1914
World War I → 1914 - 1918
The Roaring Twenties → 1920 - 1929
Great Depression & New Deal → 1929 - 1941
World War II → 1941 - 1945
American Legal History II
Citizenship and the 14th Amendment
What is the role of law in society?
How has the definition of citizenship changed over the course of American history? WHY?
Did the 14th Amendment bring about a revolution in citizenship in America?
Citizenship - Background
Is citizenship constitutional or statutory?
Statutory → Naturalization Acts
Constitutional
Is birthright citizenship territorial or national?
Jus Soli (Soil) vs. Jus Sanguinis (Blood)
Subjects vs. Citizens
Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857) → Context
Ongoing Concerns:
Northern enthusiasm
Southern opposition
Enforcement & Reconciliation
Previous denial of citizenship:
Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)
Army Surgeon
Residence in free state/territory
7 - 2 Decision:
Majority Opinion written by Chief Justice Roger Taney
Excerpts
How did the Dred Scott decision restrict citizenship?
How did the Dred Scott decision reflect Antebellum America?
How might the Dred Scott decision have impacted American society?
14th Amendment → Citizenship Clause
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. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
Clarifying Citizenship Under the 14th Amendment
Elk v. Wilkins (1884) - Context
Indian Wars, Expansion, Manifest Destiny
“Going the way of the buffalo . . .”
Warfare and Reservations
1871 → Treaty system eliminated → Railroads
Assimilation → National Unity → Boarding Schools
Dawes Act (1887)
Tribal Land → Individual Parcels
Clarifying Citizenship Under the 14th Amendment
Elk v. Wilkins (1884)
John Elk - Born Winnebago on a Reservation
Renounced Tribal Allegiance → Claimed U.S. Citizenship
Attempted Voter Registration in Omaha
Denied by Voting Registrar (Wilkins)
Elk files suit based on the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment.
Decision:
7 - 2; Majority Opinion written by Justice Gray
Excerpts
Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
How did the Elk decision restrict citizenship?
How did the Elk decision reflect 19th century America?
How might the Elk decision have impacted American society?
19th Century Chinese Immigration & Labor
Declining American Economy and opposition
Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)
Geary Act (1892)
"Because the first duty of governments is to their own citizens, and securing to them protection and enjoyment of their life and liberty the consid ...
With Joe Biden’s apparent substantial setbacks in his cognitive capacity and his advanced age, Kamala Harris is in a more-likely-than-usual position
to assume the office of president.
Yet Kamala Harris is constitutionally ineligible to
be president of the United States because she is not a natural born citizen, as required by Article II
(and, by reference, the 12thAmendment) of the
U.S. Constitution
Legacies of Exclusion Illegal Chinese Immigration during the .docxsmile790243
Legacies of Exclusion: Illegal Chinese Immigration during the Cold War Years
Author(s): Mae M. Ngai
Source: Journal of American Ethnic History, Vol. 18, No. 1 (Fall, 1998), pp. 3-35
Published by: University of Illinois Press on behalf of the Immigration & Ethnic History Society
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27502372 .
Accessed: 09/12/2014 17:10
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]
.
University of Illinois Press and Immigration & Ethnic History Society are collaborating with JSTOR to
digitize, preserve and extend access to Journal of American Ethnic History.
http://www.jstor.org
This content downloaded from 129.59.122.22 on Tue, 9 Dec 2014 17:10:04 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=illinois
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=iehs
http://www.jstor.org/stable/27502372?origin=JSTOR-pdf
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Legacies of Exclusion:
Illegal Chinese Immigration
during the Cold War Years
MAE M. NGAI
EXCLUSION INFORMED THE Chinese American historical experi
ence in many ways. It codified Chinese as the racial "other" in America?
unwanted, unassimilable, ineligible to citizenship. It justified the segre
gation and marginalization of Chinese from the mainstream of Ameri
can social and economic life. Its consequences included the transoceanic
separation of families and the development of a largely homosocial
culture in the United States.1 And, because illegal entry is a concomitant
of all restrictive immigration policy, exclusion also created a large popu
lation of Chinese illegal immigrants in America. Data from the United
States Immigration and Naturalization Service indicate that at least 25
percent of the Chinese American population in 1950 was illegal.2
Most of the illegal population comprised "paper sons," tens of thou
sands of Chinese who entered the United States during the first half of
the twentieth century by posing as the sons of Chinese with American
citizenship by native birth. The widespread practice of paper immigra
tion during the exclusion period not only exacerbated the stigma of
illegitimacy associated with exclusion, but also reinforced the isolation
and insularity of Chinatown communities by requiring immigrants to
maintain complex internal networks of protection.3
After Congress repealed the Chinese exclusion laws in 1943, and
especially ...
Military Commissions details LtCol Thomas Jasper as Detailed Defense CounselThomas (Tom) Jasper
Military Commissions Trial Judiciary, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Notice of the Chief Defense Counsel's detailing of LtCol Thomas F. Jasper, Jr. USMC, as Detailed Defense Counsel for Abd Al Hadi Al-Iraqi on 6 August 2014 in the case of United States v. Hadi al Iraqi (10026)
ALL EYES ON RAFAH BUT WHY Explain more.pdf46adnanshahzad
All eyes on Rafah: But why?. The Rafah border crossing, a crucial point between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, often finds itself at the center of global attention. As we explore the significance of Rafah, we’ll uncover why all eyes are on Rafah and the complexities surrounding this pivotal region.
INTRODUCTION
What makes Rafah so significant that it captures global attention? The phrase ‘All eyes are on Rafah’ resonates not just with those in the region but with people worldwide who recognize its strategic, humanitarian, and political importance. In this guide, we will delve into the factors that make Rafah a focal point for international interest, examining its historical context, humanitarian challenges, and political dimensions.
WINDING UP of COMPANY, Modes of DissolutionKHURRAMWALI
Winding up, also known as liquidation, refers to the legal and financial process of dissolving a company. It involves ceasing operations, selling assets, settling debts, and ultimately removing the company from the official business registry.
Here's a breakdown of the key aspects of winding up:
Reasons for Winding Up:
Insolvency: This is the most common reason, where the company cannot pay its debts. Creditors may initiate a compulsory winding up to recover their dues.
Voluntary Closure: The owners may decide to close the company due to reasons like reaching business goals, facing losses, or merging with another company.
Deadlock: If shareholders or directors cannot agree on how to run the company, a court may order a winding up.
Types of Winding Up:
Voluntary Winding Up: This is initiated by the company's shareholders through a resolution passed by a majority vote. There are two main types:
Members' Voluntary Winding Up: The company is solvent (has enough assets to pay off its debts) and shareholders will receive any remaining assets after debts are settled.
Creditors' Voluntary Winding Up: The company is insolvent and creditors will be prioritized in receiving payment from the sale of assets.
Compulsory Winding Up: This is initiated by a court order, typically at the request of creditors, government agencies, or even by the company itself if it's insolvent.
Process of Winding Up:
Appointment of Liquidator: A qualified professional is appointed to oversee the winding-up process. They are responsible for selling assets, paying off debts, and distributing any remaining funds.
Cease Trading: The company stops its regular business operations.
Notification of Creditors: Creditors are informed about the winding up and invited to submit their claims.
Sale of Assets: The company's assets are sold to generate cash to pay off creditors.
Payment of Debts: Creditors are paid according to a set order of priority, with secured creditors receiving payment before unsecured creditors.
Distribution to Shareholders: If there are any remaining funds after all debts are settled, they are distributed to shareholders according to their ownership stake.
Dissolution: Once all claims are settled and distributions made, the company is officially dissolved and removed from the business register.
Impact of Winding Up:
Employees: Employees will likely lose their jobs during the winding-up process.
Creditors: Creditors may not recover their debts in full, especially if the company is insolvent.
Shareholders: Shareholders may not receive any payout if the company's debts exceed its assets.
Winding up is a complex legal and financial process that can have significant consequences for all parties involved. It's important to seek professional legal and financial advice when considering winding up a company.
Legacies of Exclusion Illegal Chinese Immigration during the .docxsmile790243
Legacies of Exclusion: Illegal Chinese Immigration during the Cold War Years
Author(s): Mae M. Ngai
Source: Journal of American Ethnic History, Vol. 18, No. 1 (Fall, 1998), pp. 3-35
Published by: University of Illinois Press on behalf of the Immigration & Ethnic History Society
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27502372 .
Accessed: 09/12/2014 17:10
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]
.
University of Illinois Press and Immigration & Ethnic History Society are collaborating with JSTOR to
digitize, preserve and extend access to Journal of American Ethnic History.
http://www.jstor.org
This content downloaded from 129.59.122.22 on Tue, 9 Dec 2014 17:10:04 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=illinois
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=iehs
http://www.jstor.org/stable/27502372?origin=JSTOR-pdf
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
Legacies of Exclusion:
Illegal Chinese Immigration
during the Cold War Years
MAE M. NGAI
EXCLUSION INFORMED THE Chinese American historical experi
ence in many ways. It codified Chinese as the racial "other" in America?
unwanted, unassimilable, ineligible to citizenship. It justified the segre
gation and marginalization of Chinese from the mainstream of Ameri
can social and economic life. Its consequences included the transoceanic
separation of families and the development of a largely homosocial
culture in the United States.1 And, because illegal entry is a concomitant
of all restrictive immigration policy, exclusion also created a large popu
lation of Chinese illegal immigrants in America. Data from the United
States Immigration and Naturalization Service indicate that at least 25
percent of the Chinese American population in 1950 was illegal.2
Most of the illegal population comprised "paper sons," tens of thou
sands of Chinese who entered the United States during the first half of
the twentieth century by posing as the sons of Chinese with American
citizenship by native birth. The widespread practice of paper immigra
tion during the exclusion period not only exacerbated the stigma of
illegitimacy associated with exclusion, but also reinforced the isolation
and insularity of Chinatown communities by requiring immigrants to
maintain complex internal networks of protection.3
After Congress repealed the Chinese exclusion laws in 1943, and
especially ...
Military Commissions details LtCol Thomas Jasper as Detailed Defense CounselThomas (Tom) Jasper
Military Commissions Trial Judiciary, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Notice of the Chief Defense Counsel's detailing of LtCol Thomas F. Jasper, Jr. USMC, as Detailed Defense Counsel for Abd Al Hadi Al-Iraqi on 6 August 2014 in the case of United States v. Hadi al Iraqi (10026)
ALL EYES ON RAFAH BUT WHY Explain more.pdf46adnanshahzad
All eyes on Rafah: But why?. The Rafah border crossing, a crucial point between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, often finds itself at the center of global attention. As we explore the significance of Rafah, we’ll uncover why all eyes are on Rafah and the complexities surrounding this pivotal region.
INTRODUCTION
What makes Rafah so significant that it captures global attention? The phrase ‘All eyes are on Rafah’ resonates not just with those in the region but with people worldwide who recognize its strategic, humanitarian, and political importance. In this guide, we will delve into the factors that make Rafah a focal point for international interest, examining its historical context, humanitarian challenges, and political dimensions.
WINDING UP of COMPANY, Modes of DissolutionKHURRAMWALI
Winding up, also known as liquidation, refers to the legal and financial process of dissolving a company. It involves ceasing operations, selling assets, settling debts, and ultimately removing the company from the official business registry.
Here's a breakdown of the key aspects of winding up:
Reasons for Winding Up:
Insolvency: This is the most common reason, where the company cannot pay its debts. Creditors may initiate a compulsory winding up to recover their dues.
Voluntary Closure: The owners may decide to close the company due to reasons like reaching business goals, facing losses, or merging with another company.
Deadlock: If shareholders or directors cannot agree on how to run the company, a court may order a winding up.
Types of Winding Up:
Voluntary Winding Up: This is initiated by the company's shareholders through a resolution passed by a majority vote. There are two main types:
Members' Voluntary Winding Up: The company is solvent (has enough assets to pay off its debts) and shareholders will receive any remaining assets after debts are settled.
Creditors' Voluntary Winding Up: The company is insolvent and creditors will be prioritized in receiving payment from the sale of assets.
Compulsory Winding Up: This is initiated by a court order, typically at the request of creditors, government agencies, or even by the company itself if it's insolvent.
Process of Winding Up:
Appointment of Liquidator: A qualified professional is appointed to oversee the winding-up process. They are responsible for selling assets, paying off debts, and distributing any remaining funds.
Cease Trading: The company stops its regular business operations.
Notification of Creditors: Creditors are informed about the winding up and invited to submit their claims.
Sale of Assets: The company's assets are sold to generate cash to pay off creditors.
Payment of Debts: Creditors are paid according to a set order of priority, with secured creditors receiving payment before unsecured creditors.
Distribution to Shareholders: If there are any remaining funds after all debts are settled, they are distributed to shareholders according to their ownership stake.
Dissolution: Once all claims are settled and distributions made, the company is officially dissolved and removed from the business register.
Impact of Winding Up:
Employees: Employees will likely lose their jobs during the winding-up process.
Creditors: Creditors may not recover their debts in full, especially if the company is insolvent.
Shareholders: Shareholders may not receive any payout if the company's debts exceed its assets.
Winding up is a complex legal and financial process that can have significant consequences for all parties involved. It's important to seek professional legal and financial advice when considering winding up a company.
Car Accident Injury Do I Have a Case....Knowyourright
Every year, thousands of Minnesotans are injured in car accidents. These injuries can be severe – even life-changing. Under Minnesota law, you can pursue compensation through a personal injury lawsuit.
In 2020, the Ministry of Home Affairs established a committee led by Prof. (Dr.) Ranbir Singh, former Vice Chancellor of National Law University (NLU), Delhi. This committee was tasked with reviewing the three codes of criminal law. The primary objective of the committee was to propose comprehensive reforms to the country’s criminal laws in a manner that is both principled and effective.
The committee’s focus was on ensuring the safety and security of individuals, communities, and the nation as a whole. Throughout its deliberations, the committee aimed to uphold constitutional values such as justice, dignity, and the intrinsic value of each individual. Their goal was to recommend amendments to the criminal laws that align with these values and priorities.
Subsequently, in February, the committee successfully submitted its recommendations regarding amendments to the criminal law. These recommendations are intended to serve as a foundation for enhancing the current legal framework, promoting safety and security, and upholding the constitutional principles of justice, dignity, and the inherent worth of every individual.
NATURE, ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF INTERNATIONAL LAW.pptxanvithaav
These slides helps the student of international law to understand what is the nature of international law? and how international law was originated and developed?.
The slides was well structured along with the highlighted points for better understanding .
NATURE, ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF INTERNATIONAL LAW.pptx
US v Wong Kim Ark
1. 1
United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898): The Battle for Birthright
Citizenship in America
2401 words
2. 2
Introduction
Have you ever wondered why anyone born in the United States, regardless
of race, ethnicity, or sex, is automatically granted citizenship? Rest assured, this
idea did not always exist. If not for a man named Wong Kim Ark and his legal
journey, birthright citizenship might still be a foreign concept to our nation. While
there have been many well-known United States Supreme Court Cases that have
fundamentally changed the course of our nation’s history, such as Marbury v.
Madison (1803), Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857), and Brown v Board of Education
(1954), some cases, such as United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898), are inarguably
just as essential and impactful but do not receive equal recognition among history
textbooks and courses. This essay will share relevant historical context and
background information on the United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898) court case. It
will also detail the lasting influences of the Supreme Court’s landmark decision
and explain why this case deserves much greater recognition than it has received,
considering its profound impact on many generations of Americans.
Historical Context
The first wave of Chinese arriving in the United States primarily comprised
merchants, laborers, and students.1
Like immigrants from other nations, they
sought greater economic opportunities and a better future for their families.
3. 3
However, they were instantly treated like low-class individuals upon their arrival.
Anti-Chinese sentiment began to rise rapidly, and many Americans were
determined to oppress the Chinese socially and politically. Signs stating “NO
CHINESE NEED APPLY” were seen in shop windows throughout California.2
“The Chinese must go!” became a common rally cry during the 1870s.3
Feelings of
anti-Chinese sentiment culminated in the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which
prohibited further Chinese immigration to the United States.4
The Chinese Exclusion Act was certainly not the only anti-Chinese
legislation Congress passed during this time. The Page Act of 1875 barred Asian
women suspected of prostitution from entering the country and attempted to
regulate contract labor from China.5
The Scott Act of 1888 prevented Chinese
laborers, even those who were American residents, from returning to the United
States.6
In 1892, Congress reinforced the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 by
passing the Geary Act, which not only attempted to shut down Chinese
immigration for the next decade but also targeted Chinese immigrants that were
already living in the United States.7
Wong Kim Ark
Wong Kim Ark was born in 1873 in San Francisco at 751 Sacramento
Street.8
At a young age, his parents took him to the Taishan Province in China,
4. 4
where he received three years of education. Ark returned to the United States at
age 11 and began working as a cook’s apprentice.9
In 1890, Ark accompanied his
parents across the Pacific and returned home without conflict.10
In 1894, he took off for China again to visit his family. For his return, he
prepared a photograph and a native-born affidavit signed by three witnesses.11
However, this time, he was detained upon reentry by the recently formed Bureau of
Immigration. The Bureau insisted that Ark was not a citizen of the United States
and therefore was "not entitled to land in the United States, or to be or remain
therein.”12
District Attorney Henry Foote believed Ark’s lack of education and
political affiliation with China overcame his claim to citizenship, which was solely
based on mere “accident of birth.”13
Fortunately for Ark, attorney Thomas Riordan, well-known for his work on
behalf of Chinese-Americans, came to the rescue.14
Riordan filed a habeas corpus
petition on behalf of Ark, in which he stated,
A child born in the United States, of parents of Chinese descent, who, at the
time of his birth, are subjects of the Emperor of China, but have a permanent
domicile and residence in the United States, and are there carrying on
business, and are not employed in any diplomatic or official capacity under
the Emperor of China, becomes at the time of his birth a citizen of the
United States, by virtue of the first clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of
the Constitution.15
The petition was accepted into the Northern District of California’s federal
court, where District judge William Morrow sided with Ark, declaring:
5. 5
Wong Kim Ark is a citizen of the United States within the meaning of the
citizenship clause of the fourteenth amendment. He has not forfeited his
right to return to this country. His detention, therefore, is illegal. He should
be discharged, and it is so ordered.16
Ark was finally free. However, the United States government, recognizing
the significance and potential implications of the case, appealed Morrow’s
decision.17
The fate of Ark and millions of Americans now rested in the hands of
the Supreme Court.
United States v Wong Kim Ark (1898)
Representing the United States government were Solicitor General Holmes
Conrad, a former confederate, and George Collins, an attorney for the San
Francisco Bar Association.18
They argued that although birthright citizenship was
likely presumed, it was still a monarchical practice unfit for the United States
republican government.19
Both individuals also believed that from the moment
Wong Kim Ark was born, he immediately became a subject of the Emperor of
China by virtue of his parentage.20
Thus, Ark could not have been born “subject to
the jurisdiction” of the United States, and only Congress had the power to grant
him automatic citizenship by altering the naturalization process.21
Attorneys Thomas Riordan, Maxwell Evarts, and J.Hubley Ashton
represented Wong Kim Ark.22
Riordan, who represented Ark in the federal court,
6. 6
filed a quick brief, emphasizing that under common law, birth guaranteed
citizenship.23
Thus, since he viewed the 14th amendment as “only declaratory of
the common law rule,” Ark must be a citizen of the United States.24
Evarts and
Ashton, lawyers of the six companies, filed more sophisticated briefs on Ark’s
behalf. Evarts insisted that “every judicial decision directly upon the question in
controversy has been averse to the Government’s present position.”25
For Evarts,
common law was implied, and any interpretation otherwise, such as international
law, would be contrary to established precedent. Like Evarts, Ashton also
constructed his argument on English common law. Ashton argued that Solicitor
General Conrad’s interpretation of international law was unsuitable, as “the
relation of sovereign and subject or citizen is the creature of municipal law, and
international law does not purport to lay down principles or sanction specific
usages in that matter.”26
After hundreds of pages of written arguments and passionate oral arguments
from both parties, it was time for the Supreme Court to make a future-altering
decision.
Majority Opinion
7. 7
Associate Justice Horace Gray Jr. was assigned to write the majority opinion
for the court. Justice Gray began by listing the facts stipulated by both parties and
also confirmed the following:
It is conceded that, if he is a citizen of the United States, the acts of
Congress, known as the Chinese Exclusion Acts, prohibiting persons of the
Chinese race, and especially Chinese laborers, from coming into the United
States, do not and cannot apply to him.27
Justice Gray also analyzed the Constitution itself and its provisions for
citizenship.28
After a long address, he concluded that the language in the
Constitution or the 14th amendment did not address the meaning of “subject to the
jurisdiction thereof.” In that case, the proper approach, according to Justice Gray, is
to turn to English common law.29
He emphasized:
By the law of England for the last three centuries, beginning before the
settlement of this country, and continuing to the present day, aliens, while
residing in the dominions possessed by the Crown of England, were within
the allegiance, the obedience, the faith or loyalty, the protection, the power,
the jurisdiction, of the English Sovereign; and therefore every child born in
England of alien parents was a natural-born subject, unless the child of an
ambassador or other diplomatic agent of a foreign State, or of an alien
enemy in hostile occupation of the place where the child was born.30
Essentially, Justice Gray viewed common law as an important precedent set
centuries ago and saw no reason to overturn it. Thus, he rejected the international
law interpretation of both Solicitor General Holmes and George Collins. After
8. 8
further reasoning, Justice Gray, representing the 6-2 majority opinion, ultimately
declared Wong Kim Ark a citizen of the United States.31
Dissenting Opinion
Chief Justice Fuller disagreed with the majority and filed a dissenting
opinion. He noted that based on the logic of the majority opinion, any child of
citizens born outside the geographical jurisdiction of the United States would not
be granted automatic citizenship.32
Instead, they would need to obtain citizenship
through naturalization, and “no statutory provision to the contrary is of any force or
effect.”33
Justice Fuller also concurred with Solicitor General Conrad’s arguments
about referencing international law. Although he conceded that constitutional
language often dictated common law interpretation, questions about citizenship and
naturalization, in Justice Fuller’s view, were inherently political, and in this case,
involved “international relations.”34
Justice Fuller also emphasized the American
Revolution, which he believed both asserted American sovereignty and ended all
links between American law and English common law.35
Therefore, political
jurisdiction rather than geographical jurisdiction should be considered when
discussing issues concerning citizenship.
9. 9
In addition, Justice Fuller believed that the Chinese differed from other
immigrants on two counts. First, the laws of China forbade them from retracting
their allegiance to China. He wrote the following to highlight this fact:
The Chinese under their form of government, the treaties and statutes,
cannot become citizens nor acquire a permanent home here, no matter what
the length of their stay may be.36
The laws of the United States, Justice Fuller viewed, also barred them from
expressing allegiance to the United States. He emphasized the case Fong Yue Ting
v. United States, which overturned the friendly Burlingame-Seward Treaty of 1868.
The Government of the United States was brought to the opinion that the
presence within our territory of large numbers of Chinese laborers, of a
distinct race and religion, remaining strangers in the land, residing apart by
themselves, tenaciously adhering to the customs and usages of their own
country, unfamiliar with our institutions, and apparently incapable of
assimilating with our people, might endanger good order, and be injurious to
the public interests; and therefore requested and obtained from China a
modification of the treaty.37
Justice Gray concluded his dissent by reiterating his belief that “the
Fourteenth Amendment does not exclude from citizenship by birth children born in
the United States of parents permanently located therein, and who might
themselves become citizens.”38
Thus, Wong Kim Ark, in his estimation, was never
a citizen of the United States and the “order of the District Court should be
reversed.”39
Reactions and Consequences
10. 10
Expectedly, this landmark decision garnered conflicting reactions from the
public. Marshall Woodworth, a US district attorney in San Francisco, believed that
utilizing international law principles may be more “logical and satisfactory than
that of common law.” Nevertheless, he insisted that the court interpreted the 14th
amendment correctly and that there was no “valid objection” to using the common
law doctrine.40
In an article published by the Los Angeles Herald, titled “Citizen
Wong Kim Ark”, Justice Gray’s majority opinion was described as “an exceedingly
able presentation”, but Justice Fuller’s dissent was viewed as “hardly less elaborate
and even more confident and emphatic in tone.”41
One university law professor
believed the court's decision to “be a distinct retrogression” and if the case was
brought to court once more, would likely be “reversed.”42
However, regardless of
personal viewpoints, legal commentators all understood the significance of the
case.
First, the court’s decision altered the judicial interpretation of the 14th
amendment. Prior to the case United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898), the Supreme
Court, as shown by Justice Miller’s interpretation in the Slaughter-House Cases
(1873), restricted the guarantees of the 14th amendment to white and black
Americans.43
Prospective cases, such as Yick Wo v. Hopkins (1886) and Holden v.
Hardy (1898) showed more expansive interpretations of the amendment.44
Yet, it
11. 11
wasn’t until this case that the full protective power of the 14th amendment was
recognized.
Most importantly, this case established the meaning of the 14th amendment
citizenship clause. To be “subject to the jurisdiction” officially meant to be subject
to the geographical jurisdiction as dictated by English common law. Likewise,
birthright citizenship became guaranteed under the 14th amendment.45
Elk v.
Wilkins (1884) had created uncertainty regarding the citizenship status of children
with non-citizen parents, but Ark’s case resolved this uncertainty. Now, all children
born on American soil, regardless of documentation or parentage legacy, would be
American citizens. They would receive the same rights, privileges, and equal
protection under the law. However, there were two notable exceptions to this
citizenship clause. American Indians remained excluded from citizenship
eligibility until 1924 when President Coolidge signed the Indian Citizenship Act.46
Furthermore, the citizenship status of children of undocumented immigrants was
not explicitly discussed in United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898) but was later
guaranteed in Plyler v. Doe (1982).47
Conclusion
On the same day the Supreme Court issued its landmark decision, the US
Naval Court announced that a mine blew up the USS Maine in Havana Harbor.48
12. 12
Thus, the court case did not garner nearly as much press as it should have. Granted,
the decision made a brief appearance in at least 129 magazines and newspapers,
but the majority of them simply republished one or two articles.49
Today, the case is often treated with the same neglect and disrespect. To be
clear, this statement is not referring to legal scholars or law students who could
unquestionably recite this case by heart, but rather those who could alter the history
curriculum in our high schools. This case is far too important to leave out of any
US History course and should be discussed just as much as other prominent court
cases.
As the new generation of pioneers, scholars, and decision-makers, it will
soon become our responsibility to look after the future. However, we must be
cognizant of the past before looking toward the future. The story of Wong Kim Ark
and his fascinating legal battle against injustice is certainly one that we cannot
ignore.
13. 13
Endnotes
1. Teresa Fung, “Being Chinese in America,” Scholastic Update, no.120
(September 18, 1987): 37,
https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A5209858/AONE?u=googlescholar&sid=googleSc
holar&xid=e629a3c7.
2. Fung., 37
3. Carol Nackenoff and Julie Novkov, American by Birth (Kansas:
University Press of Kansas, 2021), 73
4. John H. Barnhill, Review of Chinese Immigrants, African Americans,
and Racial Anxiety in the United States, by Najia Aarim-Heriot, The Western
Journal of Black Studies 28, no. 3 (2004): 444,
https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A142574441/AONE?u=nysl_oweb&sid=googleSch
olar&xid=a25b8cd9.
5. Erika Lee. “Review of Closing the Gate: Race, Politics, and the Chinese
Exclusion Act,” Journal of Interdisciplinary History 30, no. 4 (2000): 713-714.
muse.jhu.edu/article/15929.
6. Robert A. Pastor. “U. S. Immigration Policy and Latin America: In
Search of the Special Relationship,” Latin American Research Review 19, no. 3
(1984): 35–56. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2503379.
7. Nackenoff and Novkov, American by Birth, 38.
8. Nackenoff and Novkov, American by Birth, 71.
9. Beatrice Mckenzie, To Know a Citizen: Birthright Citizenship Documents
Regimes in U.S. History, ed. Benjamin N. Lawrence and Jacqueline Stevens (Duke:
Duke University Press, 2017), 119.
10. Ron Soodalter, “By soil or by blood: in 1898 a San Francisco-born man
of Chinese descent expanded the definition of American citizenship,” American
History, vol. 50, no. 6 (February 2016): 59.
http://claver.gprep.org/fac/sjochs/chinese%20immigration%20and%20discriminati
on.pdf
11. Nackenoff and Novkov, American by Birth, 80.
12. Soodalter, “By soil or by blood,” 61.
13. Mckenzie, To Know a Citizen, 121.
14. Nackenoff and Novkov, American by Birth, 99.
15. Soodalter, “By soil or by blood,” 61.
16. In re Wong Kim Ark, 71 F. at 392.
17. Soodalter, “By soil or by blood,” 61.
18. Nackenoff and Novkov, American by Birth, 104.
19. Holmes Conrad and George Collins, Brief on the Behalf of the
Appellant: United States v. Wong Kim Ark,” in Landmark Briefs and Arguments of
14. 14
the Supreme Court of the United States, vol.14, ed. Philip B. Kurland and Gerhard
Casper (Arlington, VA: University Publications of America, 1975), 3, 9-10.
20. Conrad and Collins, Landmark Briefs and Arguments, 26.
21. Nackenoff and Novkov, American by Birth, 105.
22. Nackenoff and Novkov, American by Birth, 106-107.
23. Thomas Riordan, “Brief for Respondent: United States v. Wong Kim
Ark,” in Landmark Briefs and Arguments of the Supreme Court of the United
States, vol.14, ed. Philip B. Kurland and Gerhard Casper (Arlington, VA:
University Publications of America, 1975), 47.
24. Riordan, Landmark Briefs and Arguments, 47-48.
25. Maxwell Evarts, “Brief for the Appellee on Reargument: United States
v. Wong Kim Ark,” in Landmark Briefs and Arguments of the Supreme Court of the
United States, vol.14, ed. Philip B. Kurland and Gerhard Casper (Arlington, VA:
University Publications of America, 1975), 109.
26. J. Hubley Ashton, “Brief for the Appellee on Reargument: United States
v. Wong Kim Ark,” in Landmark Briefs and Arguments of the Supreme Court of the
United States: Constitutional Law, vol.14, ed. Philip B. Kurland and Gerhard
Casper (Arlington, VA: University Publications of America, 1975), 271.
27. Horace Gray and Supreme Court of the United States, “United States v.
Wong Kim Ark, 169 U.S. 649 (1898),” U.S. Reports, no. 169 (1897): 653.
28. Nackenoff and Novkov, American by Birth, 111.
29. Gray and Supreme Court of the United States, United States v. Wong
Kim Ark, 656.
30. Gray and Supreme Court of the United States, United States v. Wong
Kim Ark, 658.
31. Gray and Supreme Court of the United States, United States v. Wong
Kim Ark, 705.
32. Gray and Supreme Court of the United States, United States v. Wong
Kim Ark, 706.
33. Gray and Supreme Court of the United States, United States v. Wong
Kim Ark, 706.
34. Gray and Supreme Court of the United States, United States v. Wong
Kim Ark, 707.
35. Nackenoff and Novkov, American by Birth, 118.
36. Gray and Supreme Court of the United States, United States v. Wong
Kim Ark, 731.
37. Gray and Supreme Court of the United States, United States v. Wong
Kim Ark, 731.
38. Gray and Supreme Court of the United States, United States v. Wong
Kim Ark, 732.
15. 15
39. Gray and Supreme Court of the United States, United States v. Wong
Kim Ark, 732.
40. Marshall Woodworth, “Who are Citizens of the United States? Wong
Kim Ark Case—Interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment,” in The American
Law Review, ed. Seymour D. Thompson and Leonard A. Jones (St.Louis: Review
Publishing Co., 1898), 32:561.
41. Enoch Knight, “Citizen Wong Kim Ark,” Los Angeles Herald, July 24,
1898. California Digital Newspaper Collection, Center for Bibliographic Studies
and Research, University of California, Riverside, http://cdnc.ucr.edu.
42. Enoch Knight, “Citizen Wong Kim Ark.”
43. William Guthrie, Lectures on the Fourteenth Article of Amendment to
the Constitution of the United States (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press,
1898), 20-21.
44. Guthrie, Lectures on the Fourteenth Article of Amendment, 20-21.
45. James Ho, “Defining “American": Birthright Citizenship and the
Original Understanding of the 14th Amendment,” The Green Bag 9, no.4 (2006):
368.
46. Nackenoff and Novkov, American by Birth, 133.
47. Ho, “Defining “American”,” 374.
48. Nackenoff and Novkov, American by Birth, 84.
49. Nackenoff and Novkov, American by Birth, 84.
16. 16
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18. 18
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