By Rebecca E. Zietlow
In 1852, Martin Delany, a free Black doctor, journalist, and antislavery activist wrote an influential treatise on the rights of free Black people in which he claimed, “We are Americans having a birthright citizenship….” Ten years later, during the Civil War, Delany backed his words with actions by volunteering for the Union Army and recruiting Black soldiers for an army regiment. Delany’s theory of birthright citizenship was shared by thousands of antislavery and Black civil rights activists in the antebellum era, including William Yates, who wrote the first treatise on the rights of free Black people in 1838, and Frederick Douglass, a fugitive from slavery who became one of the most prominent abolitionist leaders. Black activists used the language of citizenship to claim their status as rights-bearing people who belonged to the community in which they live and to the national polity. Fugitives from slavery crossed state borders in search of freedom and human rights. Their free Black allies argued that they were citizens by virtue of being born in the United States and, as citizens, were entitled to human rights. Free Black people emphasized their loyalty to the national polity and their willingness to sacrifice to prove their loyalty. During the Civil War, fugitives from slavery and free Black people volunteered to serve in the Union army, risking their lives in support of the polity and proving their loyalty and eligibility for citizenship rights. This Essay explores the origins of birthright citizenship and describes the centrality of citizenship rights in the advocacy of people, like Delany, who participated in the Free Black Civil Rights Movement and Antislavery Movement. Birthright citizenship is a promise of equality for all people who are born in the United States, regardless of their race or the national origin of their parents. It is in our Constitution today because of the advocacy of people who were brought involuntarily into our country and claimed their right to citizenship with their actions and their activism.
94 Mississippi Law Journal, 1425-2025
