U.S. Citizenship At First Poem by Ima Ryma

The U.S. founding fathers chose
Not to spell out citizenship,
But settled common law arose.
Birth by "right of the soil" took grip.
If one was born on U.S. land,
Then U.S. citizen would be,
An easy thing to understand
Without too much complexity.
Of course both men and women could
Become a U.S. citizen.
The founding fathers found this good
For a new nation to begin.

But to be citizen right,
One had to be a human white.