Every word matters in critical legal documents, and no language is more pored over and parsed for meaning than that used in our U.S. Constitution.

The current uproar centers around the first sentence in the first section of the 14th Amendment, which was ratified in 1868: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."

The backstory behind this opening clause provides critical context not immediately apparent to people reading it today, 157 years after the fact.

The original Constitution referenced state and national citizenship, but gave no specific rule distinguishing or defining the two. Naturally, arguments arose.

Prior to the Civil War, the prevailing legal theory was that federal citizenship flowed from state citizenship. The Dred Scott decision barred citizenship altogether from people of African descent.

Following the Civil War, the pressing issue was how to extend citizenship to newly emancipated slaves.

Section 1 of the 14th Amendment was written to overturn Dred Scott and constitutionally codify the Civil Rights Act of 1866, enacted by Congress to guarantee citizenship regardless of race or previous servitude.

Only four years after the amendment's ratification, the Supreme Court got its first opportunity to interpret Section........

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