The Question of Female Citizenship The Martin vs. Massachusetts case began in 1801 when the son of William and Anna Martin, James Martin, sued Massachusetts for his mother’s confiscated land. After losing his case, he challenged the decision of the lower courts and brought it upon the Massachusetts Supreme Court. The fuss of this case in 1805 rested on the question of citizenship, specifically female citizenship, and what acts included them. First, citizens must be defined. According to Anglo-American government, citizens were the inhabitants of New America. The citizens of the republic declared themselves independent of the British Crown. Citizens must abide by the laws their government set in place and must enter a social contract. Furthermore, having property entitled the citizens to economic and political independence needed to enter the social contract (p. 138). Citizenship in the republic required certain qualities, like land ownership, which excluded many groups. Citizens did not include those without property or who were not sufficient to provide for themselves such as the poor, children, slaves, and servants (p. 138). The government expected the adult males to fulfill their duties in time of need by serving in the militia. Women and children were not able to aid in war. Citizens must remain within the boundaries of the United States. The previous definitions of citizenship took on a masculine role. Within the United States, the women had a form of citizenship because they were inhabitants and members of the nation. Although, they were not “fully enfranchised citizens (p. 138).” A married woman was considered feme-covert, which translated into “wife was literally covered by husband (p. 139).” They were to act under their husband. Under this law, they were exempt from the privileges given to citizens. Married women were not allowed to buy, sell, or own property independent of their husband. She could not enter into contracts, act in a court of law, vote, serve on juries, or hold public office (p. 139). Citizenship largely rests on the ownership of property and the ability to provide aid and defense in the United States. George Blake argued that Anna Martin was not a member of the new nation at all. She had no political relations to the states, he said. Citizens were required to take oath, but the women were never asked to take an oath nor did they. “A married woman’s status as a feme-covert severely restricted her access to property (p. 139).” Anna Martin had to surrender the management of her property to her husband. William Martin had many rights over the land, except he could not sell the land without consent of his wife. Those who did not have property did not have the economical and political power to enter a social contract, which were the married women, were not fully enfranchised citizens. Yet, the government argued that by staying within the United States, the women had a choice to act on their own judgement. The government stated that women, too, are members and inhabitants of the new nation. Why were they not included in the benefits the citizens had? The preamble said that every member must provide his personal service in time of need in arms and defense for the United States. Yet, the government expected adult males to serve in the militia. Surely, they did not want to exercise women in the militia for aid. Going back on the idea that women were femes-covert, according to the law of God, a wife had to obey what her husbanded commanded. She simply could not have remained in the states if her husband fled for exile due to the personal vows she had taken. Justice Sedgwick made a
GCE Citizenship Studies (2100) Centre number Centre name 33109 The Blue Coat School Candidate’s full name Candidate number Hannah Byrne 9647 Guidance As a part of this GCE course you will be expected to be involved in a wide range of active citizenship tasks. Your involvement in these tasks should be recorded in this active citizenship profile. You will need to complete this profile and take the completed document into the examination…
Cohen, the author of “Semi-Citizenship in Democratic Politics,” is an associate professor at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. Who deserves to be a U.S. citizen? It’s a question President Obama and Congress are trying to answer. But it’s also one we’ve been grappling with since our country’s earliest days. The founders had a clear answer: People who immigrated and spent years building lives in this country deserved citizenship. They were also keenly aware…
Krikorian states, “Any new amnesty, even if only for those brought here as children, will attract further illegal immigration” (506). Illegal immigrants will keep crossing the border as long as there is a possibility that their predecessors can achieve citizenship. If there is no form of severe punishment, then there will never be a reason for prospective illegal immigrants to think twice about crossing the border. The DREAM Act also rewards illegal immigrants. It rewards both the kids brought to the United…
Guiding You Through Citizenship, Green Card, Visas and Passport Applications Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card Form I-90 Prepared for Last Printed On Next Steps 1. Read and Follow the Application Filing Instructions. 2. Sign and Date Your Printed Application. 3. Prepare Supporting Documents, as Instructed. 4. Prepare Filing Fee, if Necessary. 5. Attach Supporting Documents and Payment. 6. Photocopy Your Signed Application, Supporting Documents and Payment, and Keep the Copies for…
immigration; the action of coming to live permanently in a foreign country (“Immigration | Definition of Immigration by Oxford Dictionaries”). America has been facing the issue on illegal immigration for decades, but the difficult process of obtaining citizenship has failed immigrants who seek a better life. Illegal immigration has been a controversial misconception since the 19th century (“U.S. Immigration Before 1965”), and it has become one of America’s widely attracted committed crimes. Every second…
a few weeks and took an interview and had to answer questions about U.S. history in English. Last they made me swear an oath of loyalty to the United States of America. 3. How would you describe how you felt about the process? It was a very long process, and I was very stressed out that it couldn’t happen faster. 4. How has gaining citizenship changed your life? Is your daily life different because of gaining citizenship? Gaining citizenship greatly changed my life because now I can be with my…
Question one: Third wave Democracies: Third-wave democracies have been hit by emergence of controversial social forces, uneven incorporation of social sectors, actually these new political institutions troubled by movements rallying against the failure of states to universalize democratic practices and achieve political autonomy. For instance ethnic movements have strongly stood to contest the foundations and contours of contemporary democratic and liberal institutions, thus arising of fundamental…
c. Concurrent federal jurisdiction means that both federal and state courts have jurisdiction over a case. It covers federal-question cases and diversity-of-citizenship cases. Diversity- of-citizenship applies with two conditions; the plantiff does not reside in the same state of the defendant and the issue concerns and amount greater than $75,000. Diversity-of-citizenship could apply is the sueing amount is greater than $75,000. 2. a. Three written responses include: 1. They could file a motion…
from the Republicans, led by Thomas Jefferson. The first of the laws was the Naturalization Act, passed by Congress on June 18. This act required that aliens be residents for 14 years instead of 5 years before they became eligible for U.S. citizenship. Congress then passed the Alien Act on June 25, authorizing the President to deport aliens "dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States" during peacetime. The third law, the Alien Enemies Act, was enacted by Congress on July 6…
I believe in World Citizenship Someone asked me one time why I seem irritated when I hear the question “where are you from”? Honestly, the main reason is that I hear this specific question several times every day. People are always intrigued by my accent and the fact that I know so much about other countries. The truth is, it is unfair to those people for me to get upset because there is no way for them to know that several other people already asked me the same thing. When I do…