Melting pot

Evolution of the National Citizenry

By brielle.roll

  • Naturalization Act of 1790

    The Naturalization Act restricted citizenship to only white people who had been in the United States for at least two years. This granted citizenship to all free whites.

  • Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

    The treaty gave Mexicans living in the United States one year to decide whether they wanted US citizenship or Mexican citizenship. This granted citizenship to Mexicans, making citizenship restricted to whites and now Mexicans.

  • 14th Amendment

    The 14th amendment granted citizenship to all people born in the United States. This included non-whites, former enslaved people, etc. Now the citizenry was so much less restricted than before, as it could be open to all races because anybody could be born in the US.

  • Naturalization Act of 1870

    This act expanded the eligibility for citizenship to Africans, even ones not born in the US.

  • Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882

    This act prohibited Chinese Immigration for 10 years, getting further away from Asian US citizenship.

  • Naturalization Act of 1906

    This act just revised the Naturalization Act of 1870, but now speaking the English language was a requirement for citizenship.

  • Expatriation Act of 1907

    This act stripped women born in the US from their citizenship if they married a noncitizen.

  • Jones Shafroth Act

    This act granted Puerto Ricans U.S. citizenship.

  • Indian Citizenship Act

    United States born Native Americans were granted citizenship, but their right to vote was still state-dependent.

  • Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952

    This act removed all restrictions against Asian citizenship and immigation.

  • Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986

    This act granted citizenship to any and all persons living in the United States before 1982.