The practice surged again in the midwest in the 1830s, and was added to several state constitutions in the Deep South as a Reconstruction reform after the Civil War to counter the votes of unreconstructed white southerners. As Ohio Representative John Cable summarized, the Court found that citizenship “was not such a right, privilege, or immunity that it could not be taken away by an act of Congress.” The justices found that Mackenzie’s decision to marry a non-citizen amounted to “voluntary expatriation.” She was now stateless and unprotected in her own country. It does leave room for states to decide which secondary documents to accept, but this would still be an additional burden on married women, could be applied unevenly across the country, and may open the door for challenges to election results—like the one faced by Ruth Bryan Owen—on the grounds that states didn’t meet these onerous requirements.
Author: Rachel Michelle Gunter / Made by History
Published at: 2025-05-19 22:47:55
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