The Preamble to the Constitution states the purpose of the document with crystalline clarity: “to secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.” Not to mankind. Not to anyone who subscribes to certain ideals. To ourselves and our posterity—the descendants of those who founded the nation.
Who were those founders? They were, without exception, White Europeans. They did not imagine that they were creating a framework for the world to inhabit. They were creating a homeland for their children and their children’s children.
The Naturalization Act of 1790—the very first law passed by Congress on the subject of citizenship—restricted naturalization to “free White persons of good character.” This was not an oversight. This was not a temporary compromise with bigotry that would later be corrected. This was the deliberate and considered judgment of the Founding generation about who could become an American.
This racial requirement for citizenship remained the law of the land for the first eighty years of the Republic. It was reaffirmed repeatedly. It was understood by everyone to reflect the Founders’ vision of America as a nation for Europeans. The supposed “proposition nation” that Vivek celebrates did not permit his ancestors to become citizens. They were explicitly excluded—by design.
What did the Founders think about the proposition that “anyone from any corner of the world” could become American? They told us directly.
