Honorary citizenship of the United States by proclamation. What rights and privileges honorary citizenship bestows, if any, is unclear. According to State Department documents, it does not grant eligibility for United States passports. Despite widespread belief that Lafayette received honorary citizenship of the United States before Churchill, he did not receive honorary citizenship until 2002. Lafayette did become a natural-born citizen during his lifetime. On 28 December 1784, the Maryland General Assembly passed a resolution stating that Lafayette and his male heirs "forever shall be...natural born Citizens" of the state. This made him a natural-born citizen of the United States under the Articles of Confederation and
To the Inhabitants of America made a plea to the "common sense" of this action. His choice of words alluded to Thomas Paine's pamphlet, "Common Sense", which had been circulating in America since 1776. Arnold was living in British-controlled New York when his letter was published and he had been given a commission as a British officer. The letter "To the Inhabitants of America" was the first in a series of letters directed at different groups in America. He followed it with "A Proclamation to the Officers and Soldiers of the Continental Army" dated October 20, 1780. These letters essentially echoed common Loyalist opinion. Many