-
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.
-
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.”
-
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 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.
