At Concurring Opinions, Gerard Magliocca: John Bingham on “the People”. The central point:
In arguing against the admission of the Oregon Territory as a state, Bingham stated that the Oregon Constitution was invalid because it allowed some legal aliens to vote. He said that this was inconsistent with Article I’s use of the term “the people of the several states.” In his view, “the people” meant only citizens. While some states at the time did let aliens vote, he maintained that this was unconstitutional (and represented the only constitutional limit on state authority over who was eligible to vote). He then went on to say that when a right was fundamental the Constitution used the term “person” or something else (not “the people”) to make that point.
Posted at 6:04 AM