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Nationality Act of 1790
This Act was the first to outline the rules on being a U.S. citizen. However, these rules only applied to 'free white persons'. -
Ban on 'importing' people of color
In an attempt to stop free black people from immigrating other unenslaved people into the country, Congress banned importing all people of color, as both free and enslaved black people in the country at the time weren't considered citizens. -
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
The Treaty was the aftermath of the Mexican-American War, and made the annexation of a large part of Northern Mexico official, as well as offering U.S. citizenship to Mexicans that stayed in the annexed part of Mexico. -
Dred Scott vs. Sanford
The Supreme Court ruled that free and enslaved Black people were not citizens. -
The 14th Amendment
The 14th Amendment states that anyone born in the United States (regardless of race, supposedly) is a citizen by birthright. -
Naturalization Act of 1870
Offered naturalization rights to Black people after white people had had them years earlier, but no one else. -
Elk vs. Wilkins
The Supreme Court voted that Native Americans weren't citizens and were exempt from citizenship by birthright. -
United States vs. Wong Kim Ark
The Supreme Court ruled that anyone born in the States was a citizen, and their race or parent's citizenship status didn't affect that. -
Expatriation Act of 1907
If a U.S.-born woman married a man that was an immigrant/not a U.S. citizen, she lost her citizenship. -
Jones-Shafroth Act
Puerto Ricans were accepted as U.S. citizens 19 years after the States obtained Puerto Rico. -
Cable Act of 1922
This reversed the Expatriation Act of 1907 and gave U.S.-born women their citizenship back if they were married to an immigrant or a man that wasn't a citizen. -
Ozawa v. United States
The Supreme Court voted that Asians were exempt from naturalization because they weren't 'racially white' and couldn't become citizens. -
Thind v. United States
The Supreme Court voted that an Asian Indian man (who was, in fact, racially white) was not able to be a citizen. -
Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
This act made it so that all Native Americans born in the United States were (finally) citizens. -
Luce-Celler Act of 1946
Naturalization was offered to Indians and Filipinos that wanted to be citizens. -
Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952
This act got rid of racial barriers when it came to U.S. citizenship, so anyone, regardless of race, could become a citizen.