Evolution of the National Citizenry

By dsvercel

  • Nationality Act of 1790

    National citizenship was granted, but only to free white people.

  • Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798

    Congress enacted deportation laws targeting people who where considered political threats to the United States.

  • 1808 Transatlantic Slave Trade Act

    This Act prohibited the importation of slaves within the jurisdiction of the United States

  • Indian Removal Act

    Authorized the confiscation of land from the Native Americans forcing them west of the Mississippi.

  • Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

    Ended the war between Mexico and the United States.

  • Passenger Cases

    The Supreme Court stated legislation and enforcement of immigration restrictions was a matter for federal authority instead of the states

  • The Coolie Trade Prohibition Act

    During the Civil War Congress prevented plantation owners from replacing enslaved Africans with unfree Chinese workers.

  • Emancipation Proclamation

    President Abraham Lincoln's executive order to free the slaves.

  • 14th Amendment

    Everyone born or naturalized in the United States is considered a U.S. citizen.

  • Naturalization Act of 1870

    Extended naturalization rights to Africans by denied the rights to Asians.

  • The Page Act of 1875

    Prohibited the recruitment of unfree laborers and women for "immoral purposes" into the United States. Primarily enforced against the Chinese.

  • Angell Treaty of 1880

    The United States was permitted to restrict Chinese immigration.

  • Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882

    A ten-year ban on Chinese laborers immigrating into the United States.

  • The Dawes Allotment Act

    This act allowed the federal government to allot tribal reservation lands. Native Americans who received the allotments could gain U.S. citizenship but often lost their land.

  • Immigration Act of 1891

    Created the Office of the Superintendent of Immigration in the Treasury Department.

  • Geary Act

    After the Exclusion Act expired in 1892 Congress extended another ten years in the form of the Geary Act.

  • Immigration Act of 1903

    The act identified anarchists as exclusionary and arranged for their removal if detained.

  • Extension of the Chinese Exclusion Act

    In response to the Chinese government's effort to leverage better conditions for Chinese travelers, the United States Congress extended the act. As a result, Chinese communities organized an anti-American boycott.

  • Anti-American Boycott

    Chinese merchants and students coordinate boycotts of U.S. goods and services as a protest against the Chinese Exclusion laws.

  • Expatriation Act of 1907

    Any American woman who marries a non-citizen immigrant man needs to take the nationality of her husband.

  • Jones-Shafroth Act

    President Woodrow Wilson signed the act giving United States citizenship to Puerto Ricans.

  • Indian Citizenship Act of 1924

    Grants citizenship to all Native Americans born in the United States.

  • Repeal of Chinese Exclusion

    The Chinese Exclusion Act was repealed and followed by laws of an immigration system that reflected the United States values.

  • Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986

    Requires employers to not knowingly hire anyone is not authorized to work in the United States.