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Who is an American?
According to Eric Foner, American nationality constitutes both civic and ethnic definitions. In the history of American, African-Americans were not considered American citizens. Blacks were by then slaves and not regarded as constituent members of the society, as Edmund Randolph says. However, there is no definition according to the original constitution of who an American citizen is. Nevertheless, the constitution gave congress the power to create an equal naturalization system through the naturalization law of 1970, which gave the first interpretation of American nationality. Congress eliminated the procedure of free whites becoming citizens, and for a couple of years, only whites could become citizens through naturalization. Through the years, members of different ethnic groups were added to become citizens by naturalization. This included Asians and blacks.
Professor Foner distinguishes citizenship in America from other parts of the world. He cites that the western worlds created the idea of freedom; however, not forgetting the west of worlds also invented race. These two beliefs give rise to nationalism. Scholars have differentiated liberal nationalism, which identifies with people who share common values and political views, unlike ethnonationalism, which puts together a community of people who share a similar heritage. This includes people who share a common ancestry, a common language with shared cultural beliefs. Germany illustrates the complete ethnic form while France presents the inclusive civic brand of nationhood. Scholars in America have identified America with the French model. From the time of independence, the nation’s most essential purpose has always rested on universal and not provincial principles. Therefore, to be an American citizen, one was to be committed to the ideology of liberty, equality, and democracy.