Trump v. Barbara · ¶372

The Reconstruction Congress expressly opposed the feudal principle that the Court claims that it adopted. Contra, ante, at 25–26 (majority opinion). As its Committee on Foreign Affairs saw the matter, “[t]here is nothing American in the oath of the land barons of England.” Report of 1868, at 99. It described the English rule’s “claim of indefeasible allegiance and perpetual service” as “the symbol of feudalism and force.” Id., at 96. Instead of the feudal principle, the congressional Report explained that American law viewed people as taking on a new citizenship, as relevant here, when they changed their “domicile.” Id., at 100. The same year that the Citizenship Clause was ratified, Congress passed a statute rejecting the feudal principle and explaining that it supported the right of all persons to expatriate and change their citizenship. Act of July 27, 1868, 15 Stat. 223–224; see…

slip opinion, revised 7/01/26
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