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Nationality act of 1790
First law to define citizenship by establish standards and procedures by which immigrants became U.S. citizens -
1803
Ban on importation of Negro, mulatto or any other persons of colour -
Dred Scott v. Sanford
The supreme court ruled slaves and free African Americans were not citizens nor did they have any rights -
Burlingame treaty of 1868
The U.S. heavily relied on Chinese immigrants for building railroads, this agreement guaranteed Chinese workers the rights of free immigrants
The 14th Amendment - Granted equal treatment for African American's and gave birth right citizenship to everyone born in the U.S. -
Chinese Exclusion Act
Laws that specifically targeted the Chinese creating restrictions and also became the 1st group to be identified by race and color -
Elk v. Wilkins
The supreme court ruled that the 14th Amendment didn't apply to Native Americans who didn't gain citizenship by birth -
The Dawes allotment act
Congress allowed the Native Americans to separate into individual handholds now know as tribal reserve lands. Native Americans receiving allotments had the option to gain U.S citizenship but will lose their land. -
Geary act
Congress renewed the Chinese exclusion laws and requested that the Chinese prove their presence in the United States by carrying a Certificate of Residence, a precursor of the green card system, or be placed in detention and deportation -
U.S. v. Wong Kim Ark
This Supreme Court case established hat anyone born in the United States is a citizen by birth regardless of race or parents' status. -
Anti-American Boycott
Chinese merchants and students organized boycotts of U.S. goods and services in China and some cities in Southeast Asia to protest the Chinese Exclusion laws -
Expatriation act
Women assumed the citizenship of their husbands, and this act took away citizenship from U.S.-born women when they married noncitizen immigrant -
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Alien land laws in California
Mainly California and a few other western states formed laws that banned "aliens ineligible for citizenship" from owning or leasing land. The Supreme Court backed these laws as constitutional. -
Cable act
Congress enacted this law to restore citizenship to U.S.-born women who had married noncitizen husbands and lost their citizenship under the Expatriation Act of 1907. Ozawa v. United States (1922)
The Supreme Court affirmed the 1790 Nationality Act's stipulation that Asians are ineligible for naturalization because they are racially not "white" regardless of their demonstrated acculturation and integration. -
Thind v. U.S.
The Supreme Court established that Bhagat Singh Thind was also ineligible for citizenship even though as an Asian Indian, who were as caucasians, he was racially white. -
Indian citizenship act
This act established that Native Americans born in the United States were automatically citizens by birth. Native Americans were the last main group to gain this right set by the 14th amendment. -
Tydings - McDuffle act
Congress imposed immigration restrictions on Filipinos by granting the Philippines eventual independence. Prior tp this the Filipinos could immigrate freely as U.S. nationals from a colony of the United States -
Repeal of Chinese exclusion
The Pacific war against Japan led Congress to repel the Chinese Exclusion laws -
Immigration and Nationality act
The McCarran-Walter Act provided quotas for all nations and ended racial restrictions on citizenship, it expanded immigration enforcement and retained offensive national origins quotas. -
Chinese student protection act
This law allowed Chinese students living in the United States to gain legal permanent status. -
Haitian Refugee Immigrant Fairness Act
This act let some Haitian nationals who had been residing in the United States the eligible to become legal permanent residents.