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1790 Naturalization Act
This act granted citizenship to any free white person given that they’ve lived in the United States for at least 2 years, are of good moral standing and swear “to support the Constitution” (“Image 1”, para. 1, n.d.). Children of these people, under the age of 21 years, can be considered citizens as well. The children born overseas to United States citizens are deemed natural born citizens. This act excludes women, slaves, Native Americans, and non-white immigrants. -
1795 Naturalization Act
In 1795, the act was amended to increase the year limit from 2 to 5. This addition excluded new white immigrants, limiting their ability to vote until they had resided in the United States for 5 years at minimum (“George Washington’s”, n.d.). -
1855 Naturalization Act
In 1855, a revision was made to include citizenship be “automatically granted to alien wives of U.S. citizens” (“Naturalization Process”, n.d.). Non-white immigrants, Native Americans, single women and slaves are still excluded from gaining citizenship. -
Dred Scott v. Sanford
In 1857 Dred Scott v. Sanford, where Scott who was previously a slave tried to sue for citizenship, was denied citizenship by the Supreme Court due to Scott being of African descent (“Interpretation”, n.d.). African Americans are now being denied citizenship due to their heritage, even though some states had already given free African Americans rights and citizenship. -
The 14th Amendment
In 1866, later ratified in 1868, the 14th Amendment to the Constitution was added to grant all people, being that they were born or naturalized within the United States, citizenship (“U.S. Senate”, n.d.). Since this was after the Civil War, all African Americans were now granted citizenship and it cannot be denied based on race. This amendment still excludes Native Americans and those born to foreign enemies on U.S. soil. -
1882 Chinese Exclusion Act
The 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act was a ban prohibiting Chinese immigrants from entering the U.S. for 10 years (“Chinese Exclusion”, 2023). This is clearly excluding Chinese immigrants from gaining citizenship and even required the Chinese already in the U.S. to “obtain certification to re-enter” if they were to ever leave (“Chinese Exclusion”, para. 3, 2023). -
1921 Emergency Quota Act
The Emergency Quota Act of 1921 was created post World War I to install a “quota system based on national origins” (Hadley, para. 1, 2021). The government was afraid of the influx of immigrants into the United States and aimed to limit how many immigrants came to the U.S. and from where. This emergent act excluded people from all Asian countries from entering the U.S., not just the Chinese from the 1882 act. -
The Cable Act
In 1922 the Married Women’s Act, known as the Cable Act, granted women the right to citizenship not based on their husband’s nationality (“Any Woman”, 2023). In 1855, married alien women were given citizenship through their already nationalized husbands. Now, women could apply on their own to gain citizenship of the United States. -
Indian Citizenship Act
Also in 1924, the Indian Citizenship Act gave all Native Americans the right to become citizens as long as they were born in the United States (“Today In”, n.d.). -
Immigration Act of 1924
The Immigration Act of 1924 is an extension of the Emergency Quota Act of 1921. Asian immigrants are still being limited, now the quota gives immigration visas to only 2% of the “total number of people of each nationality in the United States as of the 1890 national census” (“Milestones”, para. 1, n.d.). Asian immigrants are still being excluded from gaining U.S. citizenship based solely on nationality and a census from over 30 years prior. -
Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965
In 1965, the Immigration and Nationality Act “abolished quotas” allowing Asian immigrants to apply for citizenship regardless of the 2% standard set 40 years prior (“Immigration and”, n.d.). Finally, these immigrants are able to enter the country and become a U.S. citizen, if wanted.