Evolution of the national citizenry

By rclaspell

  • Declaration of Independence

    Protests England's limiting naturalization of foreigners in the colonies (Smithsonian Instutute)

  • Naturalization Act of 1790

    First rules for granting citizenship in the United States to "free white people" (Smithsonian Institue n.d.)

  • Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

    Extended citizenship to the inhabitance of the lands annexed by the United States after the Mexican-American War (Smithsonian Institute).

  • Dred Scott Decission

    Suprem Court rules "Constitution implicitly limited both state and national citizenship on racial grounds" excluding those of African decent from citizenship (Amar, A.R etal N.D.)

  • Thirteenth Amendment

    Abolishes Slavery but does not grant citizenship to freed slaves,(Smithsonian Institue). Southern states, with new white goverments, enact "black codes" that restrict the rights of freed slaves (Amar, A.R. etal, N.D.)

  • Civil Rights Act of 1866

    Declared that all persons born or naturalized in the United States were citizens of the United States and the state in which they lived, affirming citizenship by birth regardless of race. Two exceptions of this were "American-born persons “subject to any foreign power” and for “Indians not taxed”(Amar, A.R. etal, N.D.).

  • Fourteenth Amendment

    Granted all persons born or naturalized in the United States are citizens and are guaranteed “equal protection of the laws" (Smithsonian Institue).

  • Naturalization Act of 1870

    Exteneded naturalization rights to former African slaves not born in the United States; Asian immigrants remain excluded from citizenship (Smithsonian Institue)

  • Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882

    First U.S. law banning immigration based on race (Smithsonian Institue)

  • United States v. Wong Kim Ark

    Suprem Court rules any child born in the United States, regardless of race or parents’ citizenship status, is an American citizen (Smithsonian Institute).

  • Jones-Shafroth Act

    President Woodrow Wilson signed the Jones-Shafroth Act. This law gave Puerto Ricans U.S. citizenship. The Jones Act separated the Executive, Judicial, and Legislative branches of Puerto Rican government, provided civil rights to the individual, and created a locally elected bicameral legislature (Library of Congress).

  • Emergency Quota Law (1921)

    After World War I and based on eugenics research, along with the findings of the Dillingham Commission (1907-1911), Congress passes the Emergency Quota Law to significantly limit immigration on the grounds of a persons country of birth (ImmigrationHistory.org).
    Photo (Library of Congress).

  • Indian Citizenship Act 1924

    With the passage of The Indian Citizenship Act the government of the United States confers citizenship on all Native Americans born within the territorial limits of the country (Editors 2021)