Citizen or what? Before the 13th and 14th Amendments, there were no US citizens, except possibly people who worked for the US Government. Then, with those Amendments, there became freed black slave citizens. Then, over the years, more people became citizens through government paperwork that they didn't realize was the only thing that made them citizens of the US... because they said so on the paperwork, without realizing what they were doing. When a significant number of Americans said they were US citizens (in the eyes of government), government presumed all Americans to be US Government citizens. Now an American has to say he is not a US citizen if he doesn't want to be. But he has to say it carefully so that he remains an American without be a Government citizen.