Trump v. Barbara · ¶205

During the Civil War, Union officials continued to define citizenship based on birth and domicile. Lincoln’s Attorney General Edward Bates wrote that the place of birth was “prima facie” evidence of citizenship, Citizenship, 10 Op. Atty. Gen. 382, 396 (1862), a rule that corresponded with the familiar rule that “place of birth” was “prima facie” evidence of domicile, President and Fellows of Harvard Col lege, 22 Mass., at 375; see also 10 Op. Atty. Gen., at 388 (“[E]very citizen of the United States is a citizen of the particular State in which he is domiciled”). The Lincoln Administration deemed persons citizens if they were born and domiciled in the United States. See 10 Op. Atty. Gen. 321, 322 (1862) (“Mrs. Preto . . . was born in New Jersey, and, no doubt, at her father’s domicil,” so she was “therefore, born a citizen of the United States”). Congress’s discussion of who could be…

slip opinion, revised 7/01/26
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