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Declaration of Independence
The signing of this document protected England's limiting naturalization of foreigners in colonies (American History, N.D). It allowed the colonies to be free and independent of England. -
Naturalization Act of 1790
This was the first law created that defined and allowed for citizenship (Amercan History, N.D). It was created to "free white people" and allowed only white, property owners to acquire the status of being a citizen (American History, N.D). Women and nonwhite people were excluded. -
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
This treaty extended the eligibility of citizenship to include all inhabitants living in the territory annexed to the United States after the Mexican War (American History, N.D). -
13th Amendment
This amendment abolished slavery. It did not grant enslaved citizenship but it did allow them to be freed (American History, N.D). -
14th Amendment
This amendment said "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" (Amar, Harrison, N.D). -
Naturalization Act of 1870
This act extended naturalization rights to all “aliens of African nativity and to persons of African descent" (Immigration History, N.D). This act gave some equality to African Americans but it still excluded other non-whites. They particularly excluded Asians (Immigration History, N.D) -
The general Immigration Act of 1882
This act created a tax on each immigrant and blocked the entry of "idiots, lunatics, convicts, and persons likely to become a public charge" (USCIS, N.D). It also went along with The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 which specifically excluded Chinese from immigrating to the U.S (USCIS, N.D). The Chinese Exclusion Act was the first U.S. law to ban immigration based on race or nationality (USCIS, N.D). -
Jones-Shafroth Act
This act gave Puerto Ricans the right to U.S citizenships. -
19th Amendment
This amendment focused on the rights for women. Through this amendment, women were allowed to vote and received more rights that were equal to mens. (History, 2021). An article by Kennedy also made sure to note that "It wasn't until the Cable Act of 1922 that women were allowed to keep their citizenship—and gain the right to vote—if they were married to an immigrant (who had to be eligible to become a U.S. citizen) (Kennedy, 2021). -
Indian Citizenship Act
The Indian Citizenship Act grated citizenships to any Native American that was born in the U.S, but they were still exclude from voting until 1957 (LOC, N.D) -
Snyder Act of 1924
Originally the 19th amendment still excluded many colored women to vote and only allowed white women to vote. Both men and women Native Americans did not gain the right to vote until the Snyder Act of 1924 (Kennedy, 2021). -
Executive Order 9066
This order created by President Franklin Roosevelt said that there will be an "evacuation of all persons deemed a threat to national security from the West Coast to relocation centers further inland" (National Archives, N.D). This specifically affected the Japanese, and thousands were relocated and sent to assembly centers (National Archives, N.D). -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
This act prohibited "discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin" (DOI, N.D). -
Immigration Reform and Control Act
This act "prohibits employers from knowingly hiring, recruiting, or referring for a fee any alien who is unauthorized to work" (BU, N.D) It was the first edit regarding America’s immigration laws in decades (BU, N.D) -
USA Patriot Act
The purpose of the US patriot act " is to deter and punish terrorist acts in the United States and around the world" ( DNI, N.D).