A citizen of the United States may he either native-born or naturalized. Among native-born citizens a re ineluded all persons born in the United States and not subject to any foreign power, including even the children of alien parents. unless the latter be ambassadors of a foreign power, but excluding untaxed Indians still in tribal relations; children horn in foreign countries of fathers who were citizens of the 'United States at the time of birth: freedmen not recognized as citizens before the Act of Emaneipa thin, but so recognized by that act and by the ensuing Fourteenth Amendment : Indians born in the country who have abandoned tribal relations, have entered into civilized life, and have by pay ing taxes recognized their allegiance; and Indians who have accepted allotments of land in severalty under the Dawes Act of 1887.
We have already said that minors and women are citizens in the meaning of the term found in the United States Constitution; it is also true that wives of citizens who were neither born in the country nor naturalized become citizens by their marriage, if they were not legally incapable of naturalization. A naturalized citizen is one who was originally a subject of a foreign State, but who has been received by the United States as a citizen under the acts of Congress bearing on that subject. Theoretically, treatises on interna tional law have always doubted the power of the subject to throw off his natural allegiance, and of a State to accept the allegiance of the subject of a foreign country. But these rights have been exercised, in point of fact, very generally; and the right of naturalization is now recognized by treaties between the United States and many foreign powers. A person who is naturalized is admitted to all the privileges and duties of citi zenship; and his naturalization includes that of any minor children resident at the time in the United States.
In regard to the•dual citizenship to the general Government and to the State in which a person resides, it may lie said that a citizen of the United States owes his first and highest alle giance to the general Government. The relations of the two forms of allegiance have been defined as follows by the United States Supreme Court: "There is in our political system a government of each of the several States, and a government of the United States. Each is distinct from the others, and has citizens of its own, who owe it allegiance, and whose rights. within its juris diction, it must proteet. The same person may lie at the same time a citizen of the United States and a citizen of a State; but his rights of citizen ship under one of these governments will be differ ent from those he has under the other. The Gov ernment of the United States, although it is, within the scope of its powers, supreme and be yond the States, can neither grant nor seeure to its citizens rights or privileges which are not ex pressly or by implication placed under its juris diction. All that cannot be so granted or secured arc' left to the exclusive protection of the States. A citizen of the United States owes his first and highest allegiance to the general Government. and not to the State of which he may be a citizen. A declaration of war, or the commencement of actual hostilities, between two States, ipso facto, the partnership relation existing be tween citizens of the hostile :-.Plates." The word 'citizen' is often loosely used as synonymous with resident or inhabitant. AN here a law passed for a particular purpose makes such loose use of the word, and where no question of emistitutional rights is involved, the courts will interpret the word according to the intention of the lawmakers. See ALIEN ; ALLEGIANCE; NATURALI ZATION ; SUB LEcT; and the authorities referred to under those titles.