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1600s
Groups of European immigrants spotted the Eastern Seaboard. These included the Spanish in Florida, the British in New England and Virginia, the Dutch in New York, and the Swedes in Delaware. Some people were Pilgrims and Puritans who mainly came for religious freedom. Others came for economic opportunities. However, hundreds of thousands of enslaved Africans came to America against their will. -
January 1776
Thomas Paine published a pamphlet called “Common Sense” that focused on the argument for American independence. Most people consider themselves Britons but Thomas Paine made the case for a new American. Paine writes “ “Europe, and not England, is the parent country of America. This new world hath been the asylum for the persecuted lovers of civil and religious liberty from every part of Europe”(Paine 1776). -
March 1790
Congress passed the first law about who should be allowed U.S. citizenship. The Naturalization Act of 1790 allowed any free white person of good character who has been living in the U.S. for two years or longer to apply for citizenship. If a person does not have citizenship, non-white residents are not able to complete basic constitutional protections, such as voting, owning property, or testifying in court. -
August 1790
The first U.S. census took place. The English are the largest ethnic group. However, nearly one in five Americans are of African heritage. -
1815
Peace is rebuilt between the U.S. and Britain after the War of 1812. Immigration from Western Europe started very slowly but then rapidly increased. This then caused a shift in the demographics of the U.S. The first major wave of immigration lasted until the Civil War. -
1819
Many immigrants came sick or dying because of their long, crowded journey from the Atlantic conditions. -
1849
The Know-Nothing Party was formed as a comeback to increase the number of German and Irish immigrants settling in the U.S. It was also known as America’s first anti-immigrant political party. -
1850
A good flow of Chinese workers had immigrated to America. -
1856
Congress started its first session in December -
1857
The Supreme Court’s Decision on Dred Scott v. Sandford -
1860
President Lincoln won the election -
1866
The Fourteenth Amendment was made by the Joint Committee on Reconstruction. -
1866
Congress passed the Civil Rights Act -
1875
After the Civil War, some states passed their own immigration laws. The Supreme Court stated that it is the responsibility of the federal government to make and enforce immigration laws. -
1880
When America began a faster-paced period of industrialization and urbanization, a second immigration occurred. Between 1880 and 1920, over 20 million immigrants arrived. Most came from Southern, Eastern, and Central Europe. There were 4 million Italians and 2 million Jews. Many of them settled in big U.S. cities and worked in factories. -
Continuing 1882
Anti-Chinese opinions grew as their labors became successful in America. However, Chinese immigrants made up only 0.002 percent of the U.S. population. The white workers then blame the Chinese immigrants for low wages. The 1882 Act is the first in America to place strict restrictions on a certain immigrant group. -
1882
The Chinese Exclusion Act was passed. This banned Chinese immigrants from coming to the U.S. However, in 1850, a good flow of Chinese workers had immigrated to America. Chinese immigrants worked in gold mines and garment factories, built railroads, and took farm jobs. -
1891
The Immigration Act of 1891 excludes those who could enter the U.S. except for the immigration of polygamists, people convicted of certain crimes, and the diseased or sick. The Act also created a federal office of immigration to manage immigration enforcement. There were then units of immigration inspectors stationed at main ports of entry. -
1892
The U.S. first immigration station, Ellis Island opened in New York Harbor. The first immigrant processed was Annie Moore. She was a teenager from County Cork in Ireland. Over 12 million immigrants entered the U.S. this way between 1892 and 1954. -
1907
The United States immigration number rose by having immigrants enter the country through Ellis Island. -
February 1907
The middle of prejudgement in California created an influx of Japanese workers, which would cost white workers their farming jobs and their wages. Therefore, the U.S. and Japan signed the Gentlemen’s Agreement. Japan then agreed to limit Japanese departure to the U.S. to certain categories of business and professional men. In exchange, President Roosevelt pressured San Francisco to end the segregation of Japanese students from white students in their schools. -
1910
Roughly three-quarters of New York City’s population now consists of new immigrants and first-generation Americans. -
1917
Racism reached high on the eve of the American involvement in World War I. The Immigration Act of 1917 was built for literacy requirements for immigrants entering the country and put a stop to immigration from most Asian countries. -
May 1924 Part 1
The Immigration Act of 1924 limits the number of immigrants allowed in the U.S. yearly through the nationality size. Under the new size system, the U.S. issued immigration visas to two percent of the total number of people of each nationality in the U.S. The law favors immigration from Northern and Western European countries. -
1924
The numerical limit built by the 1924 law increased illegal immigration to the U.S. The U.S. Border Patrol was then established to break down illegal immigrants crossing the Mexican and Canadian Borders into the U.S. Many of these border crossers were Chinese and other Asian immigrants. They had been closed from entering legally. -
May 1924 Part 2
However, three countries (Great Britain, Ireland, and Germany) reported 70 percent of all available visas. The immigration from Southern, Central, and Eastern Europe was now limited. This Act completely excludes immigrants from Asia, aside from the Philippines at this time. -
1942
Labor shortages now occurred during World War II. The U.S. and Mexico now form the Bracero Program. This allows Mexican farm workers to enter the U.S. temporarily. This lasted until 1964. -
1948
The U.S. passed the nation’s first runaway and resettlement law to handle the influx of Europeans seeking permanent housing in the U.S. after WWII. -
1952
The McCarran-Walter Act ends the exclusion of Asian immigrants from the U.S. -
1956-1957
The U.S. took in about 38,000 immigrants from Hungary after a failed rebellion against the Soviet Union. They were among the first Cold War refugees. The U.S. then took in over 3 million refugees during the Cold War. -
1960-1962
About 14,000 alone children fled Fidel Castro’s Cuba and came to the U.S. as a part of a secret. Anti-communism program called it Operation Peter Pan. -
1964
Bracero Program ended. -
1965 Part 1
The Immigration and Nationality Act maintains the American immigration system. This Act ended the national origin proportions that were approved in the 1920s, which was more favorable to some racial and ethnic groups than others. The quota system was replaced with a seven-category preference system explaining family reunions and skilled immigrants. -
1965 Part 2
President Johnson states, “Upon signing the new bill, President Lyndon B. Johnson called the old immigration system “un-American,” and said the new bill would correct a “cruel and enduring wrong in the conduct of the American Nation”(Johnson 1965). In the next five years, immigration from war-torn areas of Asia would quadruple. Family reunions became a direct force in U.S. immigration. -
1980
During the Mariel boat lift, about 125,000 Cuban refugees made it through a dangerous sea crossing. They came in overcrowded boats. They arrived on the Florida shores in search of political safety. -
1986
President Reagan signed the Simpson-Mazzoli Act. This granted forgiveness to over 3 million immigrants living illegally in the U.S. -
2001
U.S. Senators Dick Durbin and Orrin Hatch proposed the first (DREAM) Development, Relief, and Education of Alien Minors Act. This would provide a path to legal status for Dreamers, undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally by their parents when they were a child. This did not pass. -
2012
President Obama signed DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), which temporarily targeted some Dreamers from transportation. However, it did not provide a path to citizenship. -
2017
President Trump issued two executive orders pointing at the cut down on travel and immigration from six majority-Muslim countries (Chad, Libya, Iran, Syria, Yemen, Somalia) and North Korea and Venezuela. These so-called Muslim travel bans were challenged in the state and federal courts. -
April 2018
The travel restrictions on Chad were lifted. In June, the U.S. The Supreme Court confirmed a third version of the travel ban on the remaining seven countries. -
References
HISTORY.COM EDITORS. (2018). U.S. Immigration Timeline.
https://www.history.com/topics/immigration/immigration-united-states-timeline
Amar Reed, A. Harrison, J. (2024). The Citizenship Clause.
https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/articles/amendment-xiv/clauses/700