How were the first American citizens granted citizenship?

Question

When the US declared itself independent in 1776, did it simply consider all people (of a certain demographic) already living in the US citizens? Or did these people have to apply to become citizens somehow? For example, did Benjamin Franklin become a US citizen as soon as the US began existing?

Answer 1

I can't find anything in the Constitution that specifically spells that out, but I believe that all free whites automatically became citizens of the United States when the country declared its independence from Britain. Based on English Common Law, the age of majority was 21, so that was the original voting age, but those whites who were younger than 21 were still citizens.

The 14th amendment extended citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the United States," thus people of all races could be citizens.