Social studies educators will find that birthright citizenship offers a rich and complex understanding of cultural belonging, civic participation and democratic membership. While presently pressing, birthright citizenship contains topics and themes that trace their nuance throughout the early documents of United States history to the Industrial Era to the present day. Moreover, this topic provides educators of any social studies course a frame for their curriculum, based on the enduring questions of “what does it mean to be a United States citizen?” and “how do we decide what makes a United States citizen?” These questions serve as course-long threads that teachers and students can consistently refer back to.
The way in which the United States has answered the question of “who should be a citizen?” has both devolved and evolved over time. Tracing the changes over time allows for students to better understand our country through the heuristic of citizenship, but it also provides context for student deliberation in the present and future as they grapple with this most fundamental question. This article positions students to be able to do both.
Recently, one author deployed these questions in collaboration with a local A.P. U.S. History class, using the instructional strategy, “Take-A-Stand.” Using the questions “should the United States accept every person into the United States who wants to join?” (with qualifications to the question following), “should ‘citizen’ mean that you are born here?,” “should you become a citizen if you were born here immediately after arriving in the United States?” and “does birthright citizenship align with the fundamental principles of the Constitution, and should not be revisited in the modern era?” These questions can certainly be expanded by other educators using this and other instructional strategies.
Who is to be included and gain membership to the United States as a citizen has been a question that began with the 1st U.S. Congress and has continued to be pertinent through the present. There is a sense of a stakeholder mentality that has underpinned the recent discussions surrounding jus soli (birthright citizenship) and jus sanguinis (citizenship through lineage) which argues that those who have recently arrived or will continue to arrive for citizenship do not understand the deep and profound cultural nuance and responsibilities that are innate to civic life, and certainly American life. Those with differing cultural backgrounds, racial backgrounds and political backgrounds would have the same rights and civic equality as United States citizens who trace their ancestry and lineage back far enough and have been interwoven within the mosaic of the American project.
