1. For the resolution of the Massachusetts legislature of 28 June 1798, see Acts and Resolves of Mass., 1798–1799 (Boston, 1897), 211–12. It was widely reprinted in the newspapers; see, for example, Greenleaf’s New York Journal, 14 July; Universal Gazette (Philadelphia), and Observatory (Richmond), both 19 July; and the Medley or Newbedford Marine Journal, 27 July; Greenfield Gazette, 6 Aug.; Virginia Argus (Richmond), 4 Dec. 1798. The proposed amendment stipulated: “That (in addition to the other qualifications prescribed by the said constitution) no person shall be eligible as President or Vice-President of the United States, nor shall any person be Senator or Representative in the Congress of the United States, except a natural born citizen, or unless he shall have been a resident in the United States, at the time of the declaration of independence, and shall have continued either to reside within the same, or to be employed in its Service from that period until the time of his election.” Massachusetts delegates introduced the resolution in Congress on 7 and 9 July 1798, where it was ordered to lie on the table, and subsequently ignored. See Claypoole’s American Daily Advertiser (Philadelphia), 1 Aug. 1798; Annals description begins Annals of the Congress of the United States (42 vols.; Washington, D.C., 1834–56) description ends , 1: 602; 2: 2132–33; PAB, 1: 363–66. The resolution was also circulated among the various states, enclosed in letters from Governor Increase Sumner.

According to the Senate Journal, JJ’s message and the accompanying papers were received from his private secretary, read, and committed to a committee of the whole on 10 Aug.; the resolution was adopted by the New York State Senate on 17 Aug. 1798, and sent to the state House of Representatives for concurrence. On 18 Aug., the assembly referred the resolution to a committee of the whole, but no action was taken there before the legislature adjourned. See Albany Centinel, 21 Aug.; New-York Gazette, 27 Aug.; Gazette of the United States (Philadelphia), 28 Aug. 1798; PAB, 1: 263–64; NYGM description begins State of New York, Messages from the Governors comprising Executive Communications to the Legislature and other Papers relating to Legislation from the Organization of the First Colonial Assembly in 1683 to and including the Year 1906 vol. 2 1777–1822 (Albany, 1909) description ends , 2: 424.

Before the legislature reconvened in January 1799, similar resolutions were adopted by the Connecticut and Vermont legislatures in October, by the Rhode Island legislature in November, and by the New Hampshire House of Representatives in December. However, outside New England they met with little support. Both North and South Carolina adopted resolutions condemning the principles of the proposed amendment. PAB, 1: 364–65; Independent Chronicle (Boston), 10–14 Jan. 1799.

In 1799, JJ submitted copies of similar state resolutions sent him to the legislature. These frequently were approved by the state senate but failed in the assembly. For example, Connecticut’s resolution adopted in October 1798 by the Connecticut General Assembly, was printed in the Connecticut Gazette (New London), of 7 Nov.; Western Star (Stockbridge), 13 Nov.; Amherst Village Messenger, 17 Nov.; and the Impartial Herald (Suffield, Conn.), 20 Nov. 1798. Governor Jonathan Trumbull Jr. forwarded it to JJ on 3 Nov. 1798, and JJ submitted it to the legislature on 4 Jan. 1799. The senate promptly approved it. The assembly set Tuesday, 8 Jan., for consideration of the issue by the committee of the whole. A motion was introduced to concur with the senate resolution, but it was not adopted. N.Y. Assembly Journal, 22nd sess., 2nd meeting (1799) description begins [New York State], Journal of the Assembly of the state of New-York; at their twenty-second session, second meeting, begun and held at the city of Albany, the second day of January, 1799 (Albany, [1799]; Early Am. Imprints, series 1, no. 35924) description ends , 6–7, 13–14.

The details of the assembly debate in the committee of the whole, in which Aaron Burr played a leading role in opposition to the measure, were printed in the Albany Register for 11 Jan. 1799 (reprinted in PAB, 1: 366–73). Burr denied the risk of foreign influence through election, contending that Americans were already sufficiently distrustful of foreigners, and that the length of residence required by U.S. laws “rendered it impossible that any person be elected to Congress but such as are of approved talents and virtue.” He pointed out the appointment of foreigners to prominent military posts posed a greater potential risk for treachery but confidence was reposed in them, and that it was native-born Americans like Benedict Arnold who were treasonous in the past. Burr claimed the resolution would operate ex post facto taking away rights promised to those whom America had welcomed and to whom it had granted asylum. Also speaking against the resolution were assemblymen Adam Comstock (1740–1819) of Saratoga County, James Fairlie (1757–1830) of New York City, David Hopkins of Washington County, Erastus Root (1773–1846) of Delaware County, and Stephen Reynolds of Dutchess County.

Speaking for the resolution were Federalists Nathaniel King (1760–1840) of Chenango County, the speaker of the house, Dirck Ten Broeck of Albany, and Joseph Shurtleff (1746–1814) of Albany County, who pointed to the failure of the U.S. House of Representatives to pass necessary defense measures, and complained that the leader in that action was foreign-born (Albert Gallatin). The measure failed by a vote of 40 for and 62 against. Republicans sought to have a preamble explaining the assembly’s decision added to its message of nonconcurrence with the senate resolution, but that motion did not pass. See N.Y. Assembly Journal, 22nd sess., 2nd meeting (1799) description begins [New York State], Journal of the Assembly of the state of New-York; at their twenty-second session, second meeting, begun and held at the city of Albany, the second day of January, 1799 (Albany, [1799]; Early Am. Imprints, series 1, no. 35924) description ends , 6–7, 13–14, 47–48; PAB, 1: 363–78.

Two new resolutions were introduced into the New York State Assembly on 17 Jan. 1799, by John Van Rensselaer. The first proposed that the president, vice president, members of Congress and of the cabinet, and the commander in chief and “first Admiral” of the navy all be natural born citizens or resident in and citizens of the U.S. on 4 July 1783, and have continued to reside in the U.S. or be employed in its service since that time. The second required electors of the president and vice president of the U.S. to designate upon their ballots the name of the person they wish to elect to either office. These resolutions, printed in the Gazette of the United States (Philadelphia), 25 Jan. and in the Medley, or Newbedford Marine Journal, 1 Feb. 1799, were tabled. PAB, 1: 375–76n. 21.

On 5 Feb. 1799, JJ forwarded a letter from the governor of New Hampshire dated 10 Jan. 1799, enclosing two resolutions, adopted on 26 Dec. 1798, one calling for separate ballots for president and vice-president, and one requiring that candidates for president, vice-president, senator and representative, be natural born citizens or residents at the time of the Declaration of Independence, and to have continued to reside in the U.S. or been employed in its service from that period to the time of his election. Should Congress not adopt the latter resolution, the state delegates were empowered to modify the amendment proposal to limit election for president and vice-president to natural born citizens or residents at the time of the Declaration of Independence and citizens for fourteen years by the time of their election, and stipulating that no person could be a member of Congress who was not “actually naturalized” at the time of the making of the amendment and a citizen for fourteen years at the time of election.

The New York State Senate adopted a resolution stipulating separate ballots for president and vice-president on 11 Feb. 1799, and submitted it to the assembly for concurrence. Action was postponed until 7 Mar. 1799, when a bill submitted by a house committee on “An Act providing for the election of electors for the President and Vice President of the United States” was given a reading, and a vote was taken to give a second reading, which passed, but again no action was taken. See JJ’s Message to the Senate, 5 Feb. 1799, Albany Centinel, 8 Feb.; Commercial Advertiser (New York), 11 Feb.; New-York Gazette, 13 Feb.; Spectator (New York); Otsego Herald, 7 Mar. 1799; N.Y. Assembly Journal, 22nd sess., 2nd meeting (1799) description begins [New York State], Journal of the Assembly of the state of New-York; at their twenty-second session, second meeting, begun and held at the city of Albany, the second day of January, 1799 (Albany, [1799]; Early Am. Imprints, series 1, no. 35924) description ends , 127–28, 179; NYGM description begins State of New York, Messages from the Governors comprising Executive Communications to the Legislature and other Papers relating to Legislation from the Organization of the First Colonial Assembly in 1683 to and including the Year 1906 vol. 2 1777–1822 (Albany, 1909) description ends , 2: 433.

Vermont responded to the letter sent by Massachusetts to its governor, Isaac Tichenor, who gave a speech supporting the resolution on 12 Oct. 1798 that was widely printed in New England in such newspapers as the Vergennes Gazette, 18 Oct.; Federal Galaxy (Brattleboro), 20 Oct.; Farmer’s Weekly Museum (Walpole), 29 Oct.; Impartial Herald (Suffield), 13 Nov., Thomas’s Massachusetts Spy (Worcester), 14 Nov.; Putney Argus, 17 Nov.; Weekly Oracle (New London), 19 Nov.; Sun (Dover), 21 Nov.; and Amherst Village Messenger, 1 Dec. 1798. The legislature responded with a resolution of 23 Oct. 1798, printed in the Gazette of the United States (Philadelphia), 21 Nov.; and Alexandria Times, 23 Nov. 1798. With his message to the legislature of 28 Jan. 1800, JJ again referred the resolutions from Vermont to the legislature for consideration, but again no action was taken. ADS, PHi: Gratz (EJ: 01135), for full citation, see JJ to Thomas Mifflin, 6 Sept. 1796, note 1, above.

Maryland responded with a resolution of the House of Delegates of 1 Jan. 1799, assented to by the Maryland Senate on 9 Jan. 1799. The resolution was printed in the Philadelphia Gazette, 13 Feb., Albany Gazette, 15 Feb.; Centinel of Freedom (Newark), 19 Feb., and the Genius of Liberty (Morris-town), 21 Feb. 1799. On 12 Feb., JJ submitted a letter from the Maryland Council of State of 19 Jan. 1799, forwarding their resolution to the legislature. It was referred in the assembly to the committee of the whole, but again no action was taken. N.Y. Assembly Journal, 22nd sess., 2nd meeting (1799) description begins [New York State], Journal of the Assembly of the state of New-York; at their twenty-second session, second meeting, begun and held at the city of Albany, the second day of January, 1799 (Albany, [1799]; Early Am. Imprints, series 1, no. 35924) description ends , 103–4; NYGM description begins State of New York, Messages from the Governors comprising Executive Communications to the Legislature and other Papers relating to Legislation from the Organization of the First Colonial Assembly in 1683 to and including the Year 1906 vol. 2 1777–1822 (Albany, 1909) description ends , 2: 434. The New Jersey legislature adopted the Maryland resolution on 19 Feb. See New Jersey Journal (Elizabethtown), 26 Feb. 1799. Delaware apparently also adopted the measure on 10 Jan. 1799. JJ forwarded it to the state senate on 4 Mar., where it was merely referred to the committee of the whole. See N.Y. Senate Journal, 22nd sess., 2nd meeting (1799) description begins [New York State], Journal of the Senate of the state of New-York; at their twenty-second session, second meeting, began and held at the city of Albany, the second day of January, 1799 (Albany, [1799]; Early Am. Imprints, series 1, no. 35925) description ends , 63; City Gazette and Daily Advertiser (Charleston), 11 Dec. 1799. On 16 Mar. 1799, JJ forwarded to the legislature a message from the governor of Virginia of 2 Mar., enclosing a resolution adopted by the legislature on 16 Jan. 1799, opposing any retrospective action depriving persons already serving in Congress of their positions, but proposing an amendment making foreigners who did not already have rights under the constitution at the time of the passage of the amendment ineligible to take office as U.S. senator or representative, or to any office in the Judiciary or Executive Departments. N.Y. Assembly Journal, 22nd sess., 2nd meeting (1799) description begins [New York State], Journal of the Assembly of the state of New-York; at their twenty-second session, second meeting, begun and held at the city of Albany, the second day of January, 1799 (Albany, [1799]; Early Am. Imprints, series 1, no. 35924) description ends , 220–21; NYGM description begins State of New York, Messages from the Governors comprising Executive Communications to the Legislature and other Papers relating to Legislation from the Organization of the First Colonial Assembly in 1683 to and including the Year 1906 vol. 2 1777–1822 (Albany, 1909) description ends , 2: 438.

Although none of these measures passed while JJ was governor, some of their objectives were achieved after JJ left office. The Twelfth Amendment was passed by Congress in 1803 and ratified by the states in 1804. In addition to requiring separate ballots for president and vice-president, the amendment specified that no person “constitutionally ineligible” to be president could be vice-president, thereby requiring the vice-president also to be a natural born citizen. See Herman V. Ames, “The Proposed Amendments to the Constitution of the United States During the First Century of Our History,” Annual Report of the American Historical Association for the Year 1896 (2 vols.; Washington, D.C., 1897), 2: 30, 4, 77–80.

For JJ’s earlier support for restricting officeholding to natural born citizens, see the editorial note “John Jay and the Constitutional Convention of 1787,” and note 11; and JJ to GW, 25 July 1787, JJSP description begins Elizabeth M. Nuxoll et al., eds., The Selected Papers of John Jay (6 vols. to date; Charlottesville, Va., 2010–) description ends , 4: xxiii, 465, 466–67n11, 528–29.