How Some of Our Female Ancestors Lost Their US Natural Born Citizenship Through Marriage to Aliens

A person born in the United States is generally considered to be a natural born citizen whose citizenship can only be lost by intentionally relinquishing it. For the most part this is true. However, there have been periods of time in our history where there were some deviations from this norm, even to the point of a natural born citizen losing citizenship status based on marriage to a non-citizen alien. From 1907 until 1936, this was true for many American women.

Even today, those expatriates who obtain second passports by becoming a citizenship of another country, do not automatically lose their U.S. citizenship, so it seems odd that an American woman would lose her citizenship due simply to marrying a non U.S. citizen within the U.S. Odd or not, it happened. Furthermore, the loss of citizenship upon marriage to an alien man was not restored upon the husband's death. Quite a penalty to pay for love!

Family Nature

The reasoning behind this was that the U.S. had allowed alien women who married American men to become U.S. citizens, so the reverse logic should also be true. If the alien women took the citizenship of their U.S. husbands, then why should the U.S. women not be required to take the citizenship of their alien husbands?

How Some of Our Female Ancestors Lost Their US Natural Born Citizenship Through Marriage to Aliens

So, in 1907 a law was passed that basically said that women derived their citizenship from their husband, regardless of where the women were born. This effectively removed the U.S. citizenship of a native born female who married an alien husband and gave her -- at least in the eyes of the U.S. Government -- the citizenship of her husband. The law was short lived but the effect of the law remained for several decades.

The Married Women's Independent Citizenry Act of 1922 effectively repealed the effects of the law of 1907 but did not automatically restore citizenship to those women who had lost it when they married. By an Act of June of 1936 (and a subsequent amendment to that Act in another 1940 Act) a form was finally provided by the the U.S. Department of Justice, Immigration and Naturalization Service which would allow a woman to apply to gain her lost citizenship back. Over the next two decades, many of these "expatriate" citizens applied and were able to regain their U.S. citizenship.

We should never take for granted the permanency of our citizenship. Our female ancestors who did so awoke one day to find that their natural born citizen status had been removed by the stroke of a pen. It's true that they had to marry an alien husband for that removal to occur, but prior to 1907 it would not have occurred. Only the legal requirements for citizenship changed, the fact of their birthplace had not. We can learn a lot from history. Learn from this one.

How Some of Our Female Ancestors Lost Their US Natural Born Citizenship Through Marriage to Aliens

Marriage and Family Are the Most Primal Aspect of Human Nature and Civilization

Marriage is the first rule of law. Adam first revealed the Law of Marriage during the genesis of human nature. Language and marriage are the two attributes of human nature spoken of in the story about Adam and Eve.

Now, I am not an expert on marriage or religion or anything like that. I am just an individual human being seeking the truth about human nature. I study natural history and religion in the process of seeking the truth.

I believe that Adam naming all the animals in the Garden of Eden is a reference to the evolution of human language. The joining of Adam and Eve into one family is the revelation of the Law of Marriage, the first rule of law.

Marriage and language are the two most primal attributes of human nature, the difference between a wild animal and a civilized human being. The divine education that Adam revealed caused the mystical transformation of a troop of homosapiens into the first tribe of human beings.

It was thousands of years later that the revelation of Moses established the spiritual nation. And now, Baha'u'llah's revelation has united all the people of every nation, race and religion into one universal and divine civilization.

I was married for about 5 years. I like my wife and I regret that I was not able to give her what she wanted. I still love her like a sister and consider her to be my friend. I am a better person because of our relationship.

I want my wife to be my best friend. I want her to be my equal. I want to practice consultation in our relationship. I want my marriage to last forever. I'm 49 years old so I figure its a little late to be having any kids. I like kids, I wouldn't mind having step kids, but that is not essential. There are plenty of people in the world today.

I am acutely aware of the benefits of marriage. The fortress for wellbeing. My life would be so much better if I had a partner for all kinds of things, including this business I am working on. The sex is really fun too. Its all good. I want someone to play with, as well as work with.

I want to travel together, all around earth, healing and teaching people to improve ourselves and help others. I want to go on pilgrimage to the Baha'i Holy Places, especially the World Center on Mount Carmel and the Mansion at Bahji.

The law of marriage has evolved through various manifestations over the years but it has always been the union of a man and a woman. Men have had the right to marry several women for most of human history. Today, the marriage of one man with one woman is a manifestation of the justice and equality inherent in human nature.

"God is the Source of every religion, except a few which are the result of human perversity." (Baha'u'llah) Religion is the source, the spiritual foundation, of both the family and the state. Any individual, family, tribe or nation that ignores this reality, does so at our own peril.

Healing and improving our families is a vitally important aspect of healing and improving human nature. Healthy families unite into healthy tribes and nations. Healthy families, tribes and nations are evolving into a healthy, universal and divine civilization.

Establishing a universal language for our global civilization is another aspect of healing human nature. Language is one of the most primal, probably the most primal attribute of human nature. Every human being will be able to communicate effectively with every other human being in the next generation of human civilization.

Human civilization is whatever we human beings make it. We can make it healthy, safe and fair, or not. I, for one, choose to serve Baha'u'llah to the best of my ability.

Have fun and be careful.