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Beginning of Colonial Immigration; English Settlers Arrive in America
This is when the first settlers came to America and settled on the James River in 1607. Virginia, New England, Maryland, the Carolinas, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Georgia were begun by Englishmen and New England, Virginia, and Maryland remained almost entirely English throughout the 17th century. Source: http://immigration.procon.org/view.timeline.php?timelineID=000023 -
Importation of African Slaves Begins
In 1619, 20 African slaves showed up in Amerca due to the trans Alantic slave trade. The slave trade lasted almost 4 centuries. Although the twenty Africans arrived by act of the slave trade, they actually became indentured servants. They then eventually gained their freedom, and some later actually owned slaves themselves. By the end of the colonial period, there were nearly 500,000 Africans in the U.S. Source: http://immigration.procon.org/view.timeline.php?timelineID=000023 -
Anti-Quaker Immigration Popular but Quakers still Immigrate
For a period of several years, beginning in 1656, the records of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and indeed of all of the New England Colonies, except Rhode Island, are filled with legislation designed to prevent the coming of the Quakers. However, the Quakers were interested in the U.S. so they didn't so coming. Source: http://immigration.procon.org/view.timeline.php?timelineID=000023 -
British Convicts Transported to America
The late 17th and 18th centuries saw a decline in the older punishments in favor of fines, prison and, a new solution to the problem: transportation. From the Transportation Act of 1717 up to 1769, 36,000 convicts were sent to British colonies in America. 70% of offenders at the Old Bailey in London in this period were transported. In the 18th century convicts were transported to America. Source: http://immigration.procon.org/view.timeline.php?timelineID=000023 -
Pennsylvania’s Immigration Law Ignored by Ship Masters
On September 21, 1727, an act was passed by the colonial govener of Pennsylvania who felt that the peace and security of the province was endangered by so many foreigners coming in. In order to prevent sick and diseased people from entering the colony, a law was passed requiring all ships to anchor a mile from the city until inspected by the port physician. Source: http://immigration.procon.org/view.timeline.php?timelineID=000023 -
Foreign Slave Trade Becomes Illegal; 50,000 Slaves Become First "Illegal Aliens" in the US
At this time there was too many slave trade deals taking place so President Jefferson declared that it was now illegal. The approximately 50,000 slaves smuggled into the United States after 1808 became the first illegal immigrants. Source: http://immigration.procon.org/view.timeline.php?timelineID=000023 -
Homestead Act of 1862 Passed to Encourage Westward Migration
In 1862, Congress offered to sell public lands to citizens and to immigrants at the cost of $1.25 per acre, or less. The law was designed to attract people to settle vast stretches of territory in the Midwest and West, and it was highly effective. The cheap land attracted a lot of people from the East and from Europe. The offer greatly increased the numbers of people migrating westward. Source: http://immigration.procon.org/view.timeline.php?timelineID=000023 -
First Transcontinental Railroad
The railroad stretched from San Francisco to Omaha, allowing continuous travel by rail from coast to coast. The First Transcontinental Railroad is completed when the Central Pacific and Union Pacific lines meet at Promontory Summit, Utah. Source: http://immigration.procon.org/view.timeline.php?timelineID=000023 -
Chinese Immigration to the United States
Chinese came to the country they called 'Gold Mountain' to participate in the California gold rush, and their numbers grew slowly. Between 1870 and 1880, 138,941 Chinese migrated to the United States. By 1880, the Chinese population totaled 105,465, 0.2% of the U.S. population of 50 million. This shows that the want for gold was very common all over the world. Source: http://immigration.procon.org/view.timeline.php?timelineID=000023 -
First "Great Wave" of European Immigrants to the United States
The first great wave of European immigration did not come until the 1880s. Previous events such as the Irish potato famine of 1845, the Gold Rush in 1849 and failed revolutions in Germany and France in 1848 led to the immigration of more than one million people by the 1850s. Source: http://immigration.procon.org/view.timeline.php?timelineID=000023 -
Ellis Island Opens as Immigrant Entry Checkpoint
From 1892 to 1954, over 12 million immigrants entered the United States through the portal of Ellis Island. While the new immigration station on Ellis Island was under construction, the Barge Office at the Battery was used for the processing of immigrants. Source: http://immigration.procon.org/view.timeline.php?timelineID=000023 -
Expatriation Act Revokes
The Expatriation Act, approved by Congress in1907, declared that any US citizen who becomes a citizen of another country or has pledged allegiance to another country has expatriated himself; and any naturalized US citizen who returns to his/her home country and lives there for two years, or lives in any other foreign country for five years has expatriated himself. Source: http://immigration.procon.org -
Angel Island Immigration Station Opens
Although it was billed as the 'Ellis Island of the West,' within the Immigration Service it was known as 'The Guardian of the Western Gate' and was designed control the flow of Chinese into the country. By 1920, up to 19,000 Japanese 'picture brides' were processed through Angel Island. In 1940, the government decided to abandon the Immigration Station on Angel Island. Source: http://immigration.procon.org/view.timeline.php?timelineID=000023 -
Undocumented Laborers Continue to Arrive from Mexico
In 1964, Washington cancelled the Bracero program unilaterally, and a new stage emerged. The Mexican government insisted on renewing the program. The US government was not interested because migrant laborers continued to arrive without papers and outside of negotiated agreements, therefore we didn't budge. Source: http://immigration.procon.org/view.timeline.php?timelineID=000023 -
Secure Fence Act
The Act authorizes the construction of 700 hundreds of miles of double-layered fencing along the nation's Southern border. It also directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to take action to stop the unlawful entry of undocumented immigrants, terrorists, and contraband into the U.S. using both personnel and surveillance technology. Source: http://immigration.procon.org/view.timeline.php?timelineID=000023 -
SB1070
The bill will be a state crime to be in the country illegally, and legal immigrants will be required to carry paperwork proving their status. Arizona police will generally be required to question anyone they 'reasonably suspect' of being undocumented -- a provision that critics argue will lead to widespread racial profiling. Source: http://immigration.procon.org/view.timeline.php?timelineID=000023
