In answer to that most fundamental question—who is an American?—the founders were clear that it could be any free person on American soil who was willing to abide by the laws and the Constitution of the United States. American liberalism was not tied to religion, culture, or even race. Free Black people in most Northern states were citizens. Nor was it tied to chronology, privileging those who came first over those who came later. This, too, was partly a reflection of reality. The new American republic was already a nation of immigrants.
