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Cited by 271Race, History, and American SocietyColonialism, slavery, and tradeAmerican Constitutional Law and Politics

Birthright Citizens: A History of Race and Rights in Antebellum America

Open access
Jones, Martha S.·2018·Cambridge University Press eBooks
DOI 10.1017/9781316577165
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Abstract

Before the Civil War, colonization schemes and black laws threatened to deport former slaves born in the United States. Birthright Citizens recovers the story of how African American activists remade national belonging through battles in legislatures, conventions, and courthouses. They faced formidable opposition, most notoriously from the US Supreme Court decision in Dred Scott. Still, Martha S. Jones explains, no single case defined their status. Former slaves studied law, secured allies, and conducted themselves like citizens, establishing their status through local, everyday claims. All along they argued that birth guaranteed their rights. With fresh archival sources and an ambitious reframing of constitutional law-making before the Civil War, Jones shows how the Fourteenth Amendment constitutionalized the birthright principle, and black Americans' aspirations were realized. Birthright Citizens tells how African American activists radically transformed the terms of citizenship for all Americans.

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

Martha S. Jones argues that antebellum free African Americans, especially in Baltimore, developed and pressed claims to birthright citizenship through a vernacular legal culture of courthouse appearances, conventions, and newspapers, ideas that anticipated the Fourteenth Amendment. The book is built around William Yates's 1838 treatise *Rights of Colored Men* and the author's discovery that two different men named William Yates stood behind the era's black rights activism.

Key findings

  • Free people of color claimed an "unassailable belonging" grounded in birthright citizenship; no legal text expressly provided for it, but their ideas anticipated the Fourteenth Amendment, which along with the Civil Rights Act of 1866 affirmed that the US-born were citizens independent of "race, color, or previous condition of slavery or involuntary servitude."
  • Rights were secured through performance: "rights holders were those who did what rights holders did." Black Baltimoreans traveled between states, gathered in religious assemblies, sued and were sued, testified, and secured persons and property — "the rights they inhabited became the rights they held."
  • Yates's treatise held that citizenship is distinct from political rights and "strikes deeper" than the vote; it rested on four principles, including that free people of color were citizens under Article 4, section 2, clause 1 and entitled to its "privileges and immunities," and that denial of the vote did not make one a noncitizen.
  • After *Scott v. Sandford* (1857), "nothing changed in Baltimore": residents continued to exercise rights, Maryland's high court declined to adopt Dred Scott's reasoning and affirmed free people of color's right to protect persons and property, and a legislative push for reenslavement or expulsion failed after black Baltimoreans lobbied against it.
  • Baltimore was the nation's third largest city and home to the nation's largest free black community, "some 25,000 residents"; on the eve of the Civil War nearly half a million people, mostly US-born, lived with rights subject to political whim.
  • The author resolves a historiographic confusion: Charles Wesley treated Yates as a pioneering black historian, John Myers assumed he was white — Myers was correct. The treatise writer was a white antislavery agent; a second William Yates, born a slave in Virginia, purchased his freedom, worked as a porter at the Supreme Court, moved to San Francisco, and wrote for the *Elevator* under the pen name "Amigo."

Methods

  • A history of race and rights told "through a series of disruptive vignettes," linking ordinary black litigants to better-remembered lawyers, judges, and legislators; the author frames rights as a process by which black Americans "imagined, claimed, and enacted their relationship to law," drawing on Bonnie Honig's account of outsider rights claims.
  • Sources are "shardlike courthouse records — dockets, minute books, and case files" from Baltimore, read alongside newspapers, political conventions, and legislative and high-court debates; the study is grounded in a local legal culture framed by jurisdiction.
  • Structure: chapters 1–4 trace legal consciousness among black Baltimoreans; chapters 5–7 examine their turn to the local courthouse (church property disputes, black laws, insolvency, apprenticeship and habeas corpus); chapter 8 treats the era of *Scott v. Sandford*; the conclusion looks at early Reconstruction.

Limitations

  • Stated by the author: grounding the book in the perspective of black activists gives it "a selective and sometimes partial view of the era's citizenship debate"; *Corfield v. Coryell* (1823), later deemed influential, is "outside the scope of this book" because there is no evidence it influenced thinking about free African Americans in Baltimore.
  • Stated by the author: this is "not... a story of unbridled agency in a triumphalist sense" — inhabiting rights and comporting oneself like a citizen "only sometimes secured justice," and "just as often, just ends remained elusive."
  • Evident from the text: the excerpt is the book's introduction, so the evidentiary detail behind its claims (individual case files, chapter-level findings) is not shown here; the author also notes that the antebellum equation linking rights and citizenship "was never fixed," and that courts, commentators, and treatise writers disagreed and changed their minds, leaving no settled answer to whether black Americans were citizens.

Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1017/9781316577165

Cites

231 of 231 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Claims the paper makes

0 of 27 cited sources checked · 0 supported · 0 flagged

  • Findingnone given
    § Rights of Colored Men: Debating Citizenship in Antebellum America

    William Yates led a mid-1850s challenge against a state law that barred black testimony against the interests of white people.

    “Yates led a mid-1850s challenge against a state law that barred black testimony against the interests of white people.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • Findingcitation
    § Rights of Colored Men: Debating Citizenship in Antebellum America

    Former slaves and their descendants were students of law, though of a less orthodox sort, gleaning ideas from the world around them.

    “They too were students of law, though of a less orthodox sort, gleaning ideas from the world around them.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [52]

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • Findingreasoning
    § Rights of Colored Men: Debating Citizenship in Antebellum America

    William Yates had a legal education acquired through the negotiations that secured his liberty and through observing the United States Supreme Court.

    “He had a legal education, the kind acquired through the negotiations that secured his liberty and through observing the goings-on in the nation's high court.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • Findingcitation
    § Rights of Colored Men: Debating Citizenship in Antebellum America

    William Yates secured the manumission of his wife Emeliner and their three children.

    “His labors earned him enough to secure the manumission of his wife, Emeliner, and their three children.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [45]

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • Findingown data
    § Rights of Colored Men: Debating Citizenship in Antebellum America

    William Yates, the reviewer for the Elevator, was born a slave.

    “William Yates the reviewer for the Elevator was born a slave”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim. 26
  • May combine two claims. 20
  • The quote only partly states this claim. 1

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Findingnone given
    § Rights of Colored Men: Debating Citizenship in Antebellum America

    There is no evidence that Yates was admitted to the bar.

    “Some say he read law for a time, although there is no evidence he was admitted to the bar.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing), S4 (based). May combine two claims.

    Findingreasoning
    § Rights of Colored Men: Debating Citizenship in Antebellum America

    Faced with uncertainty, some free black people fled for Northern cities, Liberia, or Canada, while many more stayed put.

    “Faced with uncertainty, some fl ed for Northern cities, Liberia, or Canada.Many more stayed put.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing), S4 (based).

    Findingnone given
    § Rights of Colored Men: Debating Citizenship in Antebellum America

    There is no evidence that Corfield v. Coryell influenced the thinking about free African Americans in Baltimore or elsewhere.

    “Still, there is no evidence that Corfi eld infl uenced the thinking about free African Americans in Baltimore or elsewhere.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing), S4 (based). May combine two claims.

    Findingnone given
    § Rights of Colored Men: Debating Citizenship in Antebellum America

    Commentators and treatise writers were never in accord and amended their writings to reflect changed thinking.

    “Commentators and treatise writers were never in accord and amended their writings to refl ect changed thinking.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable), S3 (load-bearing).

    Findingnone given
    § Rights of Colored Men: Debating Citizenship in Antebellum America

    Yates's discussion of citizenship was original, a structured synthesis bringing together a close reading of the Constitution with congressional debates and learned commentary.

    “His discussion of citizenship was original, a structured synthesis that brought together a close reading of the Constitution with congressional debates and learned commentary.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing), S4 (based).

    Findingnone given
    § Rights of Colored Men: Debating Citizenship in Antebellum America

    The American Anti-Slavery Society marginalized black men in the 1830s.

    “His institutional home had been the American Anti-Slavery Society, in which black men were marginalized in the 1830s.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingcitation
    § Abstract

    Rights of Colored Men received prominent notices in the black and abolitionist press and could be purchased at local antislavery society offices.

    “Rights of Colored Men received prominent notices in the black and abolitionist press and could be purchased at local antislavery society offi ces.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [10]

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data
    § Rights of Colored Men: Debating Citizenship in Antebellum America

    There had been two men named William Yates: the author of Rights of Colored Men and the author of the San Francisco Elevator review of William Wells Brown's The Black Man were not the same.

    “There had been two men named William Yates.The Yates who penned the Elevator review and the one who authored Rights of Colored Men were not one and the same.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingcitation
    § Rights of Colored Men: Debating Citizenship in Antebellum America

    They developed legal consciousness-an understanding of their lives through law-and sought badges of citizenship.

    “They developed legal consciousness -an understanding of their lives through law -and sought badges of citizenship.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [55]

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingnone given
    § Rights of Colored Men: Debating Citizenship in Antebellum America

    Sometimes citizenship was defined in constitutions and statutes, although most of the time it was not.

    “Sometimes citizenship was defi ned in constitutions and statutes, although most of the time it was not.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing), S4 (based).

    Findingnone given
    § Rights of Colored Men: Debating Citizenship in Antebellum America

    Charles Wesley was the first historian to recover Yates.

    “Charles Wesley was the fi rst historian to recover Yates.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Findingnone given
    § Rights of Colored Men: Debating Citizenship in Antebellum America

    Yates was not one of antebellum America's highly regarded legal minds.

    “He was not one of antebellum America's highly regarded legal minds.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Findingcitation
    § Rights of Colored Men: Debating Citizenship in Antebellum America

    Myers assumed Yates was a white man who worked closely with black Americans.

    “Myers did not directly address the matter of Yates's racial identity, and assumed that he had been a white man who worked closely with black Americans.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [31]

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingnone given
    § Rights of Colored Men: Debating Citizenship in Antebellum America

    Free black activists were generally of one mind, but even if they agreed that they were citizens, they did not agree about whether the state might affirm that fact.

    “Free black activists were generally of one mind.But even if they agreed that they were citizens, they did not agree about whether the state might affi rm that fact.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Findingown data
    § Rights of Colored Men: Debating Citizenship in Antebellum America

    William Yates purchased his freedom.

    “From Virginia, Yates purchased his freedom”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingnone given
    § Rights of Colored Men: Debating Citizenship in Antebellum America

    Courts disagreed and even changed their minds over who was a citizen and what rights might attach to that status.

    “Courts disagreed and even changed their minds over who was a citizen and what rights might attach to that status.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.

    Findingnone given
    § Rights of Colored Men: Debating Citizenship in Antebellum America

    For some antebellum Americans, being a citizen was the gateway to rights, and citizenship was a prerequisite to the right to vote.

    “For some, being a citizen was the gateway to rights.Citizenship was a prerequisite to the right to vote.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingcitation
    § Rights of Colored Men: Debating Citizenship in Antebellum America

    William Yates migrated to Washington, DC, and worked as a porter at the United States Supreme Court.

    “migrated to Washington, DC, and began working as a porter at the United States Supreme Court.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [44]

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.

    Findingnone given
    § Rights of Colored Men: Debating Citizenship in Antebellum America

    For others, exercising rights was evidence of citizenship; if a person exercised the right to vote, it was evidence that he was a citizen.

    “For others, exercising rights was evidence of citizenship.If a person exercised the right to vote, it was evidence that he was a citizen.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingcitation
    § Rights of Colored Men: Debating Citizenship in Antebellum America

    In the early 1850s William Yates moved to San Francisco, where he became a public figure.

    “Yates had moved to San Francisco, where he became a public fi gure.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [46]

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Findingnone given
    § Rights of Colored Men: Debating Citizenship in Antebellum America

    In 1865 William Yates headed the black state convention's committee on voting rights.

    “In1865 he headed the black state convention's committee on voting rights.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S1 (asserted).

    Premisecitation
    § Rights of Colored Men: Debating Citizenship in Antebellum America

    Chief Justice Roger Taney held that no African American, enslaved or free, was a citizen of the United States.

    “This view defers to the opinion of Chief Justice Roger Taney, who held that no African American, enslaved or free, was a citizen of the United States.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [50]

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable).

    Interpretationreasoning
    § Rights of Colored Men: Debating Citizenship in Antebellum America

    The result is a history, told through a series of disruptive vignettes, that suggests how people without rights still exercised them.

    “The result is a history, told through a series of disruptive vignettes, that suggests how people without rights still exercised them.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Interpretationreasoning
    § Rights of Colored Men: Debating Citizenship in Antebellum America

    Yates's argument that law could be made right was the most powerful part of his treatise.

    “Most powerful was Yates's argument about how law, though suffering from amnesia, could be made right.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationreasoning
    § Rights of Colored Men: Debating Citizenship in Antebellum America

    No legal text expressly provided for birthright citizenship as free people of color claimed it, but their ideas anticipated the terms of the Fourteenth Amendment.

    “No legal text expressly provided for such, but their ideas anticipated the terms of the Fourteenth Amendment.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Interpretationreasoning
    § Abstract

    Yates provides a window onto the position that some activists, black and white, took on race and citizenship at the end of the 1830s.

    “Yates provides a window onto the position that some activists -black and white -took on race and citizenship at the end of the 1830s.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation
    § Rights of Colored Men: Debating Citizenship in Antebellum America

    Other studies have examined African American rights during the antebellum period, although few have expressly linked rights to citizenship as this book does.

    “Other studies have examined African American rights during the antebellum period, although few have expressly linked rights to citizenship as this book does.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [60]

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationnone given
    § Rights of Colored Men: Debating Citizenship in Antebellum America

    Men like San Francisco's William Yates wrote for newspapers, engaged in the vernacular study of law, debated in political conventions, and conducted themselves like rights-bearing individuals, pressing for a radical redefinition of citizenship.

    “Men like San Francisco's William Yates wrote for newspapers, engaged in the vernacular study of law, debated in political conventions, and conducted themselves like rights-bearing individuals, all the while pressing for a radical redefi nition of citizenship.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable), S4 (based).

    Interpretationnone given
    § Rights of Colored Men: Debating Citizenship in Antebellum America

    Quotidian courthouse appearances resonate with debates in legislatures, high courts, and political conventions.

    “Quotidian courthouse appearances resonate with debates in legislatures, high courts, and political conventions.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Interpretationreasoning
    § Rights of Colored Men: Debating Citizenship in Antebellum America

    Yates's text fueled understandings of the role that law might play in claims for free black rights.

    “Yates's text fueled understandings of the role that law might play in claims for free black rights.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • May combine two claims. The quote only partly states this claim.

    Interpretationcitation
    § Abstract

    Rights of Colored Men was a work of advocacy as well as a legal treatise.

    “But Yates's text was also a work of advocacy.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [10]

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Interpretationreasoning
    § Rights of Colored Men: Debating Citizenship in Antebellum America

    The discovery of a second William Yates affirms the premise that black Americans can serve as guides through a history of race and rights.

    “The discovery of a second William Yates is more than coincidence.It is an affi rmation of the very premise of this book.Black Americans can serve as our guides through a history of race and rights.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationcitation
    § Rights of Colored Men: Debating Citizenship in Antebellum America

    Inhabiting rights and comporting themselves like citizens only sometimes secured justice; just as often, just ends remained elusive.

    “Inhabiting rights and comporting themselves like citizens only sometimes secured justice.”
    • Also stated in: § Rights of Colored Men: Debating Citizenship in Antebellum America · plain
      “Just as often, just ends remained elusive.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [57]

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Premisecitation
    § Rights of Colored Men: Debating Citizenship in Antebellum America

    Historians examining high court decisions have relied on the 1857 case of Scott v. Sandford to explain the legal status of black Americans.

    “When examining high court decisions, historians have relied on the 1857 case of Scott v. Sandford to explain the legal status of black Americans.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [50]

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.

    Interpretationreasoning
    § Rights of Colored Men: Debating Citizenship in Antebellum America

    Legal culture was capable of reform, of itself and of the status of black Americans.

    “Legal culture was also capable of reform, of itself and of the status of black Americans.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S1 (asserted), S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation
    § Rights of Colored Men: Debating Citizenship in Antebellum America

    This view credits federal officials and Congress members with having devised and set in place the principle of jus soli in American law.

    “This view credits federal offi cials and Congress members with having devised and set in place the principle of jus soli in American law.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [51]

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation
    § Rights of Colored Men: Debating Citizenship in Antebellum America

    To the degree citizenship was relevant, it guaranteed few rights or privileges, with neither voting rights nor property ownership dependent on citizenship.

    “To the degree the concept was relevant, it guaranteed few rights or privileges, with neither voting rights nor property ownership, for example, dependent on citizenship.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [49]

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S1 (asserted), S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation
    § Rights of Colored Men: Debating Citizenship in Antebellum America

    Still others have looked for the origins of African American citizenship in the era of Reconstruction, with the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment's birthright citizenship provision.

    “Still others have looked for the origins of African American citizenship in the era of Reconstruction, with the ratifi cation of the Fourteenth Amendment's birthright citizenship provision.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [51]

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Interpretationnone given
    § Rights of Colored Men: Debating Citizenship in Antebellum America

    Yates's bona fides on race and citizenship were best established during his years as an agent for the American Anti-Slavery Society.

    “His bona fi des on the subject of race and citizenship were best established during his years as an agent for the American Anti-Slavery Society.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
39 of 39

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Authors
Jones, M. S.
Affiliations
Johns Hopkins University (US)
Corresponding author
Jones, Martha S.
Venue
Cambridge University Press eBooks
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Published
2018-06-25
DOI
10.1017/9781316577165
OpenAlex
W4211237095
Semantic Scholar
e07ae6eb08088e55462821ec8b15f4fe090f79b0
Cited by
271
References
238
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 19 · 2024: 40 · 2023: 25 · 2022: 22 · 2021: 67 · 2020: 65 · 2019: 26 · 2018: 4
FWCI
41.14
Type
book
Language
en
Open access
Locations
Cambridge University Press eBooks (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Race, History, and American Society
  • Social Sciences › Anthropology › Colonialism, slavery, and trade
  • Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › American Constitutional Law and Politics
Keywords
birthright citizenship, African American citizenship, freedmen, Dred Scott decision, Fourteenth Amendment, national belonging, African American activism, antebellum United States, civil rights

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