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State citizenship is defined by the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. It was passed by the United States Congress on June 13, 1866, and ratified July 9, 1868. Section 1 of the amendment states: "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."

A person becomes a United States citizen either through birth or naturalization. A person is subject to the jurisdiction of a state or country by living there, conducting business, and so on. Any person, whether citizen or foreign national, is subject to the jurisdiction of both the laws of the state in which the person resides and the federal laws that apply to the entire country. There are exceptions, such as for diplomats with immunity. Such a person also enjoys certain legal rights under both systems. For example, an Englishman accused of a crime in New Jersey can be found guilty and punished, but only after a trial conducted according to the standards of the United States and New Jersey legal systems.

Although being a citizen of the United States arises only out of birth or naturalization, state citizenship is based solely on location. Once a person is a citizen of the United States, that person can become a citizen of any particular state simply by residing in the state.

As a citizen, a person has additional responsibilities and enjoys additional benefits. For example, after conviction and punishment, a foreign national can be deported from the country. The rights of foreign nationals to enjoy such rights as firearms ownership may also be limited. A foreign national may not vote or serve on a jury, but a citizen may.

It has been argued that the United States government has no legislative control over the states. This argument is based on Article I, Section 8, Clause 17 of the United States Constitution, which grants Congress the power to exercise exclusive legislation over the District of Columbia and over certain places purchased from the states, such as forts, magazines, and arsenals.

The argument holds that the grant of exclusive legislative power over certain places prevents Congress from exercising legislative power anywhere else. It assumes that if Congress has exclusive control over certain places, the states must have exclusive control over everything else. A brief look at reality, however, will clarify the matter. Although the state of Nebraska, for example, cannot pass a law that applies to people living in Washington, D.C., Congress can pass a law that applies to people living in Omaha.

Likewise, a person can be accused of a state crime for an act committed in a federally owned building. An example of this would be a person who assaults his co-workers in a United States Postal Service building. Although he might be accused of violating federal statutes and Postal Service regulations by his actions, he will certainly be charged under state law for the assault.

State citizenship is also relavant to diversity jurisdiction.