Birthright citizens : a history of race and rights in antebellum America / Martha S. Jones.

Cambridge, United Kingdom ; New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 2018.

©2018

KF4757 .J67 2018

9781107150348 hardback : alkaline paper
1107150345 hardback : alkaline paper
9781316604724 paperback
1316604721 paperback
9781108607872 PDF ebook
110860787X PDF ebook

xix, 248 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.

99977598099

(OCoLC)1022080095

"Before the Civil War, colonization schemes and Black laws threatened to deport former slaves born in United States. Birthright Citizens recovers the story of how African American activists remade national belonging through battles in legislatures, conventions, and courthouses. They faced formidable opposition, most notoriously from the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Dred Scott. Still, Martha S. Jones explains, no single case defined their status. Former slaves studied law, secured allies, and conducted themselves like citizens, establishing their status through local, everyday claims. All along they argued that birth guaranteed their rights. With fresh archival sources and an ambitious reframing of constitutional law-making before the Civil War, Jones shows how the Fourteenth Amendment constitutionalized the birthright principle, and Black Americans' aspirations were realized. Birthright Citizens tells how African American activists radically transformed the terms of citizenship for all Americans"--Provided by the publisher.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 221-238) and index.

ebook version : 9781108607872

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History of race and rights in antebellum America

Purchased from the income of the Soll Fund