One may confine the right of suffrage to white male citizens; another may extend it to
colored persons and females; one may allow all persons above a prescribed age to convey
property and transact business; another may exclude married women. But whether native-born
women, or persons under age, or under guardianship because insane or spendthrifts, be excluded
from voting or holding office, or allowed to do so, I apprehend no one will deny that they are
citizens of the United States. Besides, this clause of the Constitution does not confer on the
citizens of one State, in all other States, specific and enumerated privileges and immunities.
They are entitled to such as belong to citizenship, but not such as belong to particular citizens
attended by other qualifications. Privileges and immunities which belong to certain citizens of a
State, by reason of the operation of causes other than mere citizenship, are not conferred. Thus,
if the laws of a State require, in addition to citizenship of the State, some qualification for office,
or the exercise of the elective franchise, citizens of all other States, coming thither to reside, and
not possessing those qualifications, cannot enjoy those privileges, not because they are not to be
deemed entitled to the privileges of citizens of the State in which they reside, but because they, in
common with the native-bom citizens of that State, must have the qualifications prescribed by
law for the enjoyment of such privileges under its constitution and laws. It rests with the States
themselves so to frame their constitutions and laws as not to attach a particular privilege or
immunity to mere naked citizenship. If one of the States will not deny to any of its own citizens
a particular privilege or immunity, if it confer it on all of them by reason of mere naked
citizenship, then it may be claimed by every citizen of each State by force of the Constitution;
and it must be borne in mind, that the difficulties which attend the allowance of the claims of
colored persons to be citizens of the United States are not avoided by saying that, though each
State may make them its citizens, they are not thereby made citizens of the United States,
because the privileges of general citizenship are secured to the citizens of each State.

v. Articles of Confederation

There is one view of this article entitled to consideration in this connection. It is
manifestly copied from the 4th of the Articles of Confederation, with only slight changes of
phraseology, which render its meaning more precise, and dropping the clause which excluded
paupers, vagabonds and fugitives from justice, probably because these cases could be dealt with
under the police powers of the states, and a special provision therefor was not necessary. It has
been suggested, that in adopting it into the Constitution, the words "free inhabitants" were
changed for the word "citizens." An examination of the forms of expression commonly used in
the state papers of that day, and an attention to the substance of this article of the Confederation,
will show that the words "free inhabitants," as then used, were synonymous with citizens. When
the Articles of Confederation were adopted, we were in the midst of the War of the Revolution,
and there were very few persons then embraced in the words "free inhabitants," who were not
bom on our soil. It was not a time when many, save the children of the soil, were willing to
embark their fortunes in our cause; and though there might be an inaccuracy in the uses of words
to call free inhabitants citizens, it was then a technical rather than a substantial difference. If we
look into the constitutions and state papers of that period, we find the inhabitants or people of

95