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Naturalization Act of 1790
The Naturalization Act of 1790 was a law of the United States Congress that set the first uniform rules for the granting of United States citizenship by naturalization. The law limited naturalization to "free White person(s) ... of good character", thus excluding Native Americans, indentured servants, enslaved people, free black people, and later Asians, although free black people were allowed citizenship at the state level in many states. -
Inglis v. Trustees of Sailor's Snug Harbor
In the case of Inglis v. Trustees of Sailor's Snug Harbor, the Court faced the question of whether a man born in New York State in 1776 was a U.S. citizen and therefore able to inherit real property. The court found that those present on U.S. soil at the Declaration of Independence or born thereafter were presumed to be citizens, but the presumption of citizenship was rebutted upon a showing of intent to remain a British subject. -
People Vs Hall
A Chinese man who had witnessed a murder by a white man was denied the act of testifying. Chinies, Blacks and Indian were not allowed to testify against a white person. -
1857 Dred Scott vs. Sanford Court Decision
Dred Scott vs. Sanford was a landmark Supreme Court decision of the United States Supreme Court that held the U.S. Constitution did not extend American citizenship to people of black African descent. -
Abraham Lincoln is elected President
Republican, presidential candidate, Abraham Lincoln is elected president of the United States. Lincolns' administrations takes legal position that free blacks were American citizens. -
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American Civil War
The American Civil War fought between the Union and the Confederacy. The main cause of the war was the disagreement over wether or not slavery would be allowed to happen in the western territories, which would lead to more slave states, or be prevented from doing so. -
Imigration Act of 1864
This law legalized labor recruitment practices to encourage immigration to the United States. But it was quickly repealed. -
Civil Rights Act of 1866
Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866. This act declared that all persons born or naturalized in the United States were citizens of the United States and the state in which they lived, thereby affirming a rule of citizenship by birth that did not depend on race. The Civil Rights Act also provided that all citizens of each state should have the same basic civil rights, including the right to hold property and make contracts, as were enjoyed by white citizens. -
The Fourteenth Amendment
This secured citizenship for all persons born in the United States after the Civil War -
Chy Lung vs Freeman
Supreme Court decision - the federal government holds sole authority to regulate immigration. -
Elk v. Wilkins, 112 U.S. 94 court case
In Elk v. Wilkins, 112 U.S. 94, the Court found that acquisition of U.S. citizenship at birth under the Constitution if born within the United States did not extend to children of Native American tribes, holding that they were not "subject to the jurisdiction of the United States" at birth. -
United States v. Wong Kim Ark, 169 U.S. 649
In United States v. Wong Kim Ark, 169 U.S. 649 (1898), the Court affirmed the right to citizenship of the United States of a child born in the State of California whose parents, at the time of his birth, were subjects of the Emperor of China not employed in any diplomatic or official capacity. -
Downes v. Bidwell, 182 U.S. 244 (1901); Dorr v. U.S., 195 U.S. 138 (1904)
Puerto Rico and the Philippines, although they had become U.S. territory, were not part of the United States because Congress had not yet enacted laws incorporating them into the United States or making the Constitution fully applicable to them.
"The Court affirmed and held that Puerto Rico was a territory appurtenant belonging to the United States, but not a part of the United States within the revenue clauses of the U.S. Constitution." -
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Consular Cases
In the first decade of the 20th century, in a series of court cases often called the "Insular Cases", the Supreme Court developed the rationale that, absent specific Congressional legislation or treaty provisions:
(1) The Constitution has only limited applicability to U.S. territories; and (2) Inhabitants of territories acquired by the United States acquire U.S. nationality‑but not U.S. citizenship. -
Rasmussen v. U.S., 197 U.S. 516 (1905); Hawaii v. Mankichi, 190 U.S. 197 (1903)
Alaska and Hawaii were incorporated territories (Rasmussen v. U.S., 197 U.S. 516 (1905); Hawaii v. Mankichi, 190 U.S. 197 (1903); but The Court concluded that artical III of the treaty regarding Alaska allowed its inhabitants all the rights, advantages and immunities of citizens of the United States as an incorporated territory. The Court then determined that U.S. Constitution Amendment VI was applicable to Alaska." -
Gonzales v. Williams, 192 U.S. 1 (1904)
In Gonzales v. Williams, 192 U.S. 1 (1904), the Supreme Court The Court held that citizens of Puerto Rico were not aliens even though they had not been granted full U.S. citizenship by act of Congress. -
Indian Citizenship Act 1924
This law states that all Native Americans born in the United States were automatically citizens by birth. Native Americans were the last group to gain this right set forth in the Fourteenth Amendment. -
Nationality Act of 1940
The Nationality Act of 1940 revised numerous provisions of law relating to American citizenship and naturalization.
The law revised "the existing nationality laws of the U.S. into a more complete nationality code"; it defined those persons who were "eligible for citizenship through birth or naturalization" and clarified "the status of individuals and their children born or residing in the continental U.S., its territories. The law furthermore defined who was not eligible for citizenship. -
Afroyim v. Rusk, 387 U.S. 253 (1967)
Afroyim v. Rusk, 387 U.S. 253, was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, which ruled that citizens of the United States may not be deprived of their citizenship involuntarily. The U.S. government had attempted to revoke the citizenship of Beys Afroyim, a man born in Poland, because he had cast a vote in an Israeli election after becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen. -
Vance v. Terrazas, 444 U.S. 252 (1980)
Vance v. Terrazas, 444 U.S. 252 was a United States Supreme Court decision that established that a United States citizen cannot have his or her citizenship taken away unless he or she has acted with an intent to give up that citizenship. The Supreme Court overturned portions of an act of Congress which had listed various actions and had said that the performance of any of these actions could be taken as conclusive, irrebuttable proof of intent to give up U.S. citizenship. -
Child Citizenship Act of 2000
The Child Citizenship Act of 2000 allows foreign-born, biological, and adopted children of U.S. citizens to acquire U.S. citizenship if they satisfy certain requirements before age 18. The Act applies to children who did not acquire U.S. citizenship at birth. -
Fitisemanu v. United States, U.S. Supreme Court, No. 21-1394
Fitisemanu v. United States was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States was asked to consider if the Insular Cases should be overturned and whether people living in American territories such as American Samoa are guaranteed birthright citizenship under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
People born in American Samoa are not entitled to birthright citizenship under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.