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Nationality Act
The first law to grant citizenship by naturalization. Allowed immigrants to become US citizens through a process. -
Alien and Sedition Act
Any person that is a threat to the Us and involved with conflicts in Europe was deported. -
Period: to
Ban on importation
Haitian Revolution made congress ban immigration by free blacks to contain anti-slavery campaigners. -
African American
Congress bans the importation of slaves. -
Indian removal
A new Law was created to confiscate land from Native Americans and forced removal west of Mississippi River. -
Native American
Cherokee Indians forced on thousand-mile march to the established Indian Territory. Approximately 4,000 Cherokees die on this "Trail of Tears." -
Irish
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. -
Mexican
The Mexican-American War ends: U.S. acquires additional territory and people under its jurisdiction. -
Chinese
The California Gold Rush sparks first mass immigration from China. -
Dred Scott v Sanford
Slaves and free African Americans were not citizens of the US and were not entitled to the rights and privileges of citizenship. -
Polish & Russian
Poland's religious and economic conditions prompt the immigration of approximately two million Poles by 1914. -
African American Workers
The Union Army permits black men to enlist as laborers, cooks, teamsters, and servants. -
Emancipation Proclamation
President Abraham Lincoln's order freeing the slaves held in the confederate states. -
14th Amendment
The 14th Amendment of the Constitution endows African Americans with citizenship. -
Native Americans no voting
A clause in the 14th Amendment "excluding Indians not taxed" prevents Native-American men from receiving the right to vote. -
Japanese
Japanese laborers arrive in Hawaii to work in sugar cane fields. -
15th Amendment
The 15th Amendment of the Constitution provides African-American males with the right to vote. -
Legalized segregation
The Supreme Court rules in Plessy v. Ferguson that "separate but equal" accommodations for African Americans and whites are Constitutional. This decision allows for legalized segregation. -
Cuban and puerto rican citizenship
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. -
Japanese can not apply for naturalization
The Supreme Court rules in Ozawa v. United States that first-generation Japanese are ineligible for citizenship and cannot apply for naturalization. -
Native American Citizenship
President Calvin Coolidge signs a bill granting Native Americans full citizenship. -
Mexicans can work in US
Congress allows for the importation of agricultural workers from within North, Central, and South America. The Bracero Program allows Mexican laborers to work in the U.S. -
Chinese eligible for U.S. citizenship
The Magnuson Act of 1943 repeals the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, establishes quotas for Chinese immigrants, and makes them eligible for U.S. citizenship. -
African American Voting/ housing
The Civil Rights Act ensures voting rights and prohibits housing discrimination.