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Immigration to America
The immigration to America began in 1607 when the first settlement along the James River was founded. -
Massachussets and Aliens
Massachusetts General Court ruled the follow:
"...If we heere be a corporation established by free consent, if the place of our cohabitation be our owne, then no man hath a right to come into us without our consent... If we are bound to keep off whatsoever appears to tend to our ruine or damage, then may we lawfully refuse to receive such whose dispositions suite not with ours and whose society (we know) will be hurtful to us." -
Pennsylvania and German Immigrants
"We the subscribers, natives and late inhabitants of the Palatinate upon the Rhine and places adjacent, having transported ourselves into this Province of Pennsylvania, a colony subject to the Crown of Great Britain, in hopes and expectation of finding a retreat and peaceable settlement therein: Do solemnly promise and engage that we will be faithful and bear true allegiance to his present Majesty king George II, and his successors, and will be faithful to the Proprietors of this Province; and t -
Plantation Act
"In 1740 the British Parliament passed an act which came to be known as the Plantation Act --meaning the colonies--that sought to regularize the naturalization process. As such, it was also intended to encourage immigration to the American colonies. Under British law at the time, aliens could not engage in British commerce without severe penalties. This aspect was not rigorously enforced in the colonies, but nonetheless such British law made it advantageous for immigrants of the colonies to beco -
Articles of Confederation
"Under the Articles of Confederation [Enacted in 1781 and Replaced by the Constitution in 1788], the question of citizenship and the naturalization of immigrants remained with the individual states. Pennsylvania allowed any foreigner of 'good character,' who took an oath of allegiance to the state, to acquire property and after one year's residency become a citizen entitled to 'all the rights of a natural born subject of this state.' New York followed Pennsylvania's model and added a requirement -
First Alien Naturalization Act
"The original [1790 Alien Naturalization Act (165KB) ] provided the first rules to be followed by all of the United States in the granting of national citizenship. At that time and by that law naturalization was limited to aliens who were 'free white persons' and thus left out indentured servants, slaves, and most women, all of whom were considered dependents and thus incapable of casting an independent vote. The 1790 Act also limited naturalization to persons of 'good moral character.' And the -
Slave Trade Becomes Illegal in Foreign Exchange
"...the authors of the Constitution... protected the foreign slave trade, a major source of immigration, by prohibiting interference with it for twenty years (Article 1, Section 9). When that period expired, Congress, at President Jefferson's invitation, promptly made that trade illegal, but did not interfere with either the domestic slave trade or slavery itself. The approximately 50,000 slaves smuggled into the United States after 1808 became the first illegal immigrants." -
Native Americans and Naturalization
n"The [1790] Naturalization Act excluded from citizenship not only nonwhite immigrants but also a group of people already here - Indians. Though they were born in the United States, they were regarded as members of tribes, or as domestic subjects; their status was considered analogous to children of foreign diplomats born here. As domestic 'foreigners,' native Americans could not seek naturalized citizenship, for they were not 'white.' ...Tribe after tribe in the south was forced to cede their la -
Homestead Act
"In 1862, the U.S. 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 promise of land at a low price attracted hundreds of thousands of people from the East and from Europe. The offer greatly increased the numbers of people migrating westward." -
The First "Great Wave "
"[T]he 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. Nevertheless, the 1880s saw a huge immigration explosion. The period between 1880 and 1924 witnessed an average of 560,000 immigrants per year, amounting to over 25 million immigrants over a 44 year period.This period saw -
Border Patrol
Border patrol began with mounting gaurds who were stationed along the border from Texas to California. -
Arizona becomes a State
Arizona becomes the 48th state -
Immigration Reform and Control Act
This act made it illegal to hire undocumented workers and required employeers to attest to the legal status of their employees. -
SB 1070
SB 1070 convicted those who harbored or employed illegal immigrants; although this law was brought to the Surpreme Court, the law remained. -
Prposition 200
Although pased in 2004, this proposition required voters to provide proof of citizenship before registering themselves to vote however in 2013 the Surpreme Court denied it.
