Citizens, States & Unions

There are TWO kinds of Citizens, TWO kinds of States, and Two kinds of Unions

The Constitution of September 17, 1787 acknowledges, in Article I, two kinds of Citizen of the United States, and therefore, two different States from two different Unions. The Northwest Ordinance of July 13, 1787 created the possibility of States populated by inhabitants who can become Citizens of the United States at age 18. Elsewhere, in the original 13 States, citizenship is only possible at age 21, the common-law age of majority. In federal territory 18-year-olds are subjects of government.

The first Citizen of the United States is identified in Article I, §2, Clause 2 by one of the qualifications a person from the Northwest Territory wishing to be a Representative in the House of Representatives must have. There a Representative who is 25 years of age must be seven years Citizen of the United States. The last requirement is that the person seeking to be Representative be an inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen. Those requirements for the office of Representative identify the State, as a State where United States citizenship may be obtained at age 18. Nothing in a Constitution is unimportant, so combining the minimum age requirement of 25 years with a seven years a Citizen of the United States minimum makes the minimum age for United States Citizenship 18 years of age.

The only States where it was possible to become an 18 year old Citizen of the United States were the federally owned States of the Northwest Territory, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan and part of Minnesota. In addition, at the time of the ratification of the Constitution of September 17, 1789, these states were waiting to be admitted into the Union established by the Articles of Confederation November 15, 1777: Vermont, Kentucky, Tennessee and Maine.

Dr. Eduardo M. Rivera