State

A state is a people which express their will “through the medium of an organized government” but are distinct from a citizen who owes allegiance to a government. Government is created by these members for the purpose of enforcing their will. They have full access to the common law, which is a strict set of rules for controversies that requires due process.

Black’s Law Dictionary, 4th Edition, Page 1578
STATE, n.
A people permanently occupying a fixed territory bound together by common-law habits and custom into one body politic exercising, through the medium of an organized government, independent sovereignty and control over all persons and things within its boundaries…

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/state
5 a : a politically organized body of people usually occupying a definite territory especially : one that is sovereign
b : the political organization of such a body of people
c : a government or politically organized society having a particular character

The definitions of state, people, and nation; the people are the political force behind their nation. These three definitions are the trifecta that defines what a National is.

Since the U.S.C. defines a “national” as an individual who owes permanent allegiance to a state, and is a holder of political power in our nation the term national fits very nicely. A national is a member of the people, who as a body politic creates government for the enforcement of their will over things and persons in their territory, and for all intents and purposes is the nation.

A national owes permanent alliance to themselves, at least as a body politic. This makes it quite clear that persons are distinct from people, as a person under the 14th amendment can’t be a member of the “people” in the eyes of the Federal Government, as noted that federal citizenship takes primacy.