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Jamestown, known as the first colony in the British Empire, was established in 1607, in Virginia.
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In 1619, a year before English pilgrims arrived at Plymouth, Massachusetts, a group of Africans were brought to the Jamestown colony in Virginia as indentured servants.
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The Mayflower was an English ship that transported the first English Puritans, known today as the Pilgrims, from Plymouth, England, to the New World.
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The U.S. establishes first Native American reservation and policy of dealing with each tribe as an independent nation.
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The federal government requires two years of residency for naturalization
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The Naturalization Act, passed by the United States Congress on June 18, 1798, increased the period necessary for immigrants to become naturalized citizens in the United States from 5 to 14 years.
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Congress bands importation of slaves.
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Potato crop fails in Ireland sparking the Potato Famine which kills one million and prompts almost 500,000 to immigrate to America over the next five years.
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The California Gold Rush sparks first mass immigration from China.
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California Senate committee investigates the “social, moral, and political effect of Chinese immigration.”
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Italy’s troubled economy, crop failures, and political climate begin the start of mass immigration with nearly four million Italian immigrants arriving in the United States.
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Congress establishes a civil government in Puerto Rico and the Jones Act grants U.S. citizenship to island inhabitants. U.S. citizens can travel freely between the mainland and the island without a passport.
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The U.S. enters World War I and anti-German sentiment swells at home. The names of schools, foods, streets, towns, and even some families, are changed to sound less Germanic.
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President Calvin Coolidge signs a bill granting Native Americans full citizenship.
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The Bracero Program ends after temporarily employing almost 4.5 million Mexican nationals.
