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Oct 12, 1492
America's Discovery
Discovered by Christopher Columbus -
Slavery Begins
A ship carrying 20 enslaved Africans arrived in Jamestown, Virginia -
First Thanksgiving
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Common Sense is published
Most colonists consider themselves Britans, but Paine makes the case for a new American. -
Naturalization Act
allows any free white person of “good character,” who has been living in the United States for two years or longer to apply for citizenship. -
Citizenship begins
The federal government requires two years of residency for naturalization. -
US Census
The first U.S. census happens. The English are the largest ethnic group among the 3.9 million people counted. However nearly one in five Americans are of African heritage. -
Irish Immagration Wave Begins
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Steerage Act
which requires better conditions on ships arriving to the country. The Act also calls for ship captains to submit demographic information on passengers, creating the first federal records on the ethnic composition of immigrants to the United States. -
America’s first anti-immigrant political party,
the Know-Nothing Party forms, as a backlash to the increasing number of German and Irish immigrants settling in the United States. -
Civil Rights Act
The Civil Rights Act declares that all people born in the U.S. are citizens, with the exception of Indians not taxed. -
State Immagration
Following the Civil War, some states passed their own immigration laws. In 1875 the Supreme Court declares that it’s the responsibility of the federal government to make and enforce immigration laws. -
Chinese Exclusion Act
The Chinese Exclusion Act passes which bars Chinese immigrants from entering the United States. -
Second Immagration Boom
Between 1880 and 1920 Nearly 20 million immigrant's arrive. The majority are from southern, eastern, and central Europe, including 4 million Italians and 2 million jews. -
Immagration act of 1891
Created exclusions of who can enter the US -
Ellis Island Opens
the United States’ first immigration station, opens in New York Harbor. -
United States Vs Wong Kim Ark
establishes that anyone born in the U.S. is a citizen by birth, regardless of race or parents' status. -
Immigration Peak
U.S. immigration peaks, with 1.3 million people entering the country through Ellis Island alone. -
Gentlemen’s Agreement
Japan agrees to limit Japanese emigration to the United States .In return, President Theodore Roosevelt urges San Francisco to end the segregation of Japanese students from white students in San Francisco schools. -
Immigration Act of 1917
Sets a literacy requirement to enter the country. Halts lots of Asian immigration -
Border Patrol is established
illegal immigration to the United States increases. The U.S. Border Patrol is created to slow down illegal immigrants crossing the Mexican and Canadian borders into the United States. -
Immigration Act of 1924
Limits the total number of immigrants allowed in yearly -
INS is created
The Immigration and Naturalization Service is created to consolidate federal immigration and naturalization functions. -
Bracero Program
allows Mexican agricultural workers to enter the United States temporarily -
McCarran-Walter act
ends the exclusion of Asian immigrants to the United States. -
Operation Peter Pan
About 14,000 unaccompanied children flee Fidel Castro and Cuba to the United States as part of a secret program -
Immigration and Nationality Act
The Act ends the national origin quotas enacted in the 1920s which favored some racial and ethnic groups over others. -
Mariel boatlift
about 125,000 Cubans refuges cross the sea seeking political asylum -
Simpson-Mazzoli Act,
grants amnesty to more than 3 million immigrants living illegally in the United States. -
Immigration Reform and Control Act
allows some aliens to legalize there residence in the US