-
English colonists land May 24 at Jamestown, Virginia, under the patent of the London Company.
-
At Jamestown, 20 blacks were landed to be sold as indentured servants.
-
The Mayflower anchors off Plymouth on December 21, and the colonists from England begin to disembark.
-
The U.S. establishes first Native American reservation and policy of dealing with each tribe as an independent nation.
-
The federal government requires two years of residency for naturalization.
-
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.
-
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.
-
Congress bans importation of slaves.
-
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.
-
The California Gold Rush sparks first mass immigration from China.
-
California Senate committee investigates the “social, moral, and political effect of Chinese immigration.”
-
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.
-
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.
-
Immigration Act of 1924 establishes fixed quotas of national origin and eliminates Far East immigration. President Calvin Coolidge signs a bill granting Native Americans full citizenship.
-
The Immigration Act of 1965 abolishes quota system in favor of quota systems with 20,000 immigrants per country limits. Preference is given to immediate families of immigrants and skilled workers (Chinese).“Freedom flight” airlifts begin for Cuban refugees assisting more than 260,000 people over the next eight years (Cuban & Puerto Rican).The Bracero Program ends after temporarily employing almost 4.5 million Mexican nationals. (Mexican)
