The Constitution Should Be Interpreted Through Historical Context and Customs, Not Abstract Textual Formalism
Source: Joseph Addington. "The True Constitution Doesn’t Grant Universal Birthright Citizenship - The American Conservative." April 20, 2026. www.theamericanconservative.com
The Gist
The author argues that judges shouldn't interpret the Constitution's birthright citizenship clause based purely on what the text seems to say today. Instead, they should look at what the people who wrote it actually meant to accomplish - which was giving citizenship to freed slaves, not creating a system where anyone born here automatically becomes a citizen.
Conclusion
The Fourteenth Amendment's birthright citizenship clause should not be interpreted as granting universal birthright citizenship based on abstract textual formalism, but rather according to the framers' concrete historical intentions and the underlying constitutional order
Premises
- The written Constitution is an expression of a pre-existing constitutional order rooted in customs, traditions, and ethical principles, not merely a standalone text
- Conservative legal scholars like Kirk, Bork, and Bozell warned against judicial reliance on abstractions at the expense of history and contemporary reality
- The framers of the Fourteenth Amendment had specific, concrete intentions: to overturn Dred Scott and recognize African-American citizenship, not to establish universal birthright citizenship
- Scholarly research by Kurt Lash, Randy Barnett, and others demonstrates the framers did not intend the citizenship clause to protect children of temporary sojourners
- Some constitutional questions appear settled by written text but actually require social consensus and understanding of underlying principles to be actionable
- Chief Justice Roberts' formalist approach represents the problematic tendency of modern legal conservatives to prioritize abstract textual interpretation over historical context
Assumptions
- The Constitution's meaning should be determined by original framers' intentions rather than evolving textual interpretation
- There exists a meaningful distinction between 'written' and 'unwritten' constitutional principles
- Modern birth tourism and global mobility create problems the framers could not have anticipated or intended to address
- Conservative legal philosophy has deteriorated from its earlier, more historically grounded foundations