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Naturalization Act of 1790
Background
The Naturalization Act of 1790 was the first set of guidelines to become a citizen of the United States of America. This is where having two US parents comes into play, even if the children are born off of American soil. This also descriminated against certain races as well. -
Naturalization Act of 1795
Document
This created more criteria for citizenship in America. This required people to be citizens for two to five years, to declare that they wanted to be US citizens in a public forum, and renounce any status from their previous country. -
California Gold Rush
Background
This event becomes the first large influx of immigrants since the America became a country. The California Gold Rush occurred after the discovery of Gold and the spread of the word. News about Gold being in California had people coming in from all corners of the world. Eventually, gold started to run scarce after so much mining, and people who had migrated here became wage workers. -
Burlingame-Seward Treaty
Background
The Burlingame-Seward Treaty, also known as the Burlingame-Seward Treaty, was the opening of migration between the US and China. Negotiations began between the two countries when the United States realized that they needed workers to work on the transcontinental railway. However, naturalization was held, but the agreement specified that the Chinese be treated as if they immigrated from RU or GB. -
Naturalization Act of 1870
Extensive Background of Naturalization This act enabled African American slaves to be considered citizens of the United States. People of African decent now could apply for citizenship within the US. -
Mexican Revolution
Background
Due to the amount of violence in Mexico, this lead to multitudes of Mexicans migrating to the US. Most people only wanted to stay to improve their financial statuses, and then return home. The United States started to send Mexicans back when their labor was no longer needed. -
Immigration Act of 1917
BackgroundThere is now a literacy test for immigrants before they can become citizens of the US. -
Emergency Quota Act
Background
This quota limited the number of immigrants from countries as well as the percentage of immigrants from each country(3%). The overall number being 357,082 immigrants annually. -
The Great Depression
Background The stock market crash leads to an economic downturn in the US. This starts putting more and more people out of jobs. Eventually, hostile attitudes surface about immigrants. Americans start to blame them for lack of jobs, and it starts a vicious cycle. Immigration was essentially shut down during this time. -
WWII
Background World War II led to a lot of Americans fighting in other countries. The labor force was shortened and women started working. Not only this, the US started to seek immigrant labor to try to keep the economy flourishing. -
Nationality Act of 1940
Background
"The enactment of the Nationality Act of 1940, which was approved and became law on October 14, 1940, represents the first attempt ever made since the founding of our Republic to codify and unify all the laws of the United States relating to the important subjects of nationality and naturalization." (Knight, 1940) -
Hungarian Revolution
Background
40,000 refugees made their way to the US fleeting the violence occurring in Soviet territories. Over 200,000 immigrants left the country seeking peace. -
Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965
Background
Possibly one of the most monumental moments in immigration history. National quotas were illiminated, a maximum level of immigrants was placed, and a per country limit was placed for the Eastern Hemisphere. However, the Western Hemisphere had no per-country limit. -
Welfare Reform Act of 1996
Background
This made immigrants who were not citizens of the US ineligible for Welfare. -
Arizona's SB 1070
Background
Due to hostility towards the amount of immigrants in Arizona, Arizona created a stricter act called SB 1070 that allowed suspected immigrants to be pulled over, as well as having immigrants prove citizenship. This law created an overturn in other parts of the US, which seems to show that America will go in the direction of more strict laws for immigration. These will be even more strict than before.
