Question

2. Review the Beard-McDonald-McGuire controversy regarding motivations for passage of the U.S. Constitution. How was the controversy framed? Does it provide insight into the role of government in the economy?

Answer 1

Senator Ted Cruz has maintained that there are no constitutional barriers that prevent him from running. And the challenges to his candidacy so far are few and far between. Though he was born in Calgary, Canada he grew up in Texas, and graduated from there, later attending Princeton University and Harvard Business School. Considered a prospective presidential candidate, Cruz released his birth certificate which shows his mother was born in Delaware and his father was born in Cuba. Most legal scholars maintain that Cruz is in the clear despite his Canadian birthplace.

Two obvious provisions in the Constitution states that the candidate must be 35 years of age and a resident of the United States for 14 years. The third provision maintains that he or she must be a “natural born citizen.’ Legal experts opine that a natural citizen is someone who is a citizen from birth and doesn’t have to go through a naturalization process to become a citizen. Which means, then Cruz is a natural citizen by being born to an American mother and having her citizenship at birth.

Two former solicitor generals, Neal Katyal and Paul Clement wrote that British common law recognized children born outside of the British empire remained subjects, and were described by law as “natural born.” The Naturalization Act of 1790 also states that children born abroad to U.S. citizens were, too, natural born citizens. Though born in a foreign land, yet he has the right to entitle himself to high honours in his adopted country. Exclusion of him from the office would be unjust to his merits, and painful to his sensibilities.