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Alien Sedition Act Pt. 1
A series of legislation passed by the U.S. Congress in an attempt to control any Republican opposition to the Federalists.
-On June 18th, the Naturalization Act was passed, stating that aliens must be citizens for 14 years, as opposed to the previous 5 years, in order to be eligible for U.S. citizenship.
-On June 25th, the Alien Act followed, authorizing the president to deport aliens who were considered"dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States." -
Signifigance of the Alien Sedition Acts
The passing of these acts can be credited as America's first action against immigrants. This was the start of were stereotypes and a barrier of "we-they" began to develop.
-Citation: 22 & 26 -
Alien Sedition Acts Pt. 2
-On July 6th, U.S. Congress followed with the Alien Enemies Act allowing any wartime arrest, imprisonment and deportation of any alien serving the enemy power.
-Finally, on July 14th, Congress passed the Sedition Act which stated that any treasonable activity (such as the publication of "false, scandalous and malicious writing") was a high misdemeanor, punishable by fine and imprisonment.
-Citation: 13 & 25 -
The Industrial Revolution
-Summary: This was the height of the Industrial Revolution, a technological and innovated movement that began in England that changed the world forever. This revolution introduced new inventions to the world that made daily life easier, such as the steam engine, cotton gin, the telegraph, and the sewing machine.
*Months are not accurate
-Citation: 13 & 25 -
Signifigance of the Industrial Relution
Aside from helping to modernize and expand American society, the Inudstrial Revolution also helped create and provide thousands of jobs for Americans as well as immigrants. During this time period the idea of the "American Dream" began to develop and America becoming an almost, sanctuary and a land of opportunity for all.
*Months are not accurate -
Signifigance of the Trail of Tears
About 46,000 Native Americans were displaced during their forced removal. This event was the first to highlight our aggressive and stubborn attitudes when it came to expanding our great nation. Through their displacement Americans have been shown to disregard consequences and the morality of their deicisions. This event has only paved the way for Americans to get into the habit of reagardign those who are different as nothing more than something that can be removed.
Citation: 27 & 28 -
The Trail of Tears
Beginning with the Indian Removal Act of 1830, Americans began to expand the country by moving into territories such as Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Georgia. Our aggressive consumption of their land left them without a home. The Cherokee, Choctaw, Chikasaw, Creek, and Seminole tribes had no other option but to begin a 1,000-mile journey from their homes to strange new lands. On the dangerous trek, 2,500-6,000 Native Americans perished and while the rest survived, their lives were never the same. -
The Civil War
Citation: 2 & 24 -
The Civil War
-Summary: As tension rose between the North and the South over the issue of slavery and expansion, Abraham Lincoln's, an anti-slavery Republican, election to office sealed the deal as a war broke out between the Union (North) and seven seceeded states, known as the Confederate States of America (South).
-Signifigance: The first national division of the U.S. The conflict went much deeper than than a simple disagreement, it was the first time the nation was split and against each other. -
Ratification of the 14th Amendment
-Addresses the questions surrounding the rights of former slaves after the Civil War.
-Section 1: Any person born or naturalized in the U.S. are granted state and federal citizenship.
-Section 2: No state is allowed to rid of the "privileges and immunities" of citizens.
-Section 3: No person is to be deprived of life, liberty, property, or entitlment of "due process".
-Section 4: No person is to denied "equal protection of the law" -
Signifigance of the 14th Amendment
-The ratification of this event began to address the idea of "race" and what it meant to be a black citizen in a "White America".
-Also, this amendment promises each citizen basic rights, protecting U.S. citizens from any harm.
-Citation: 1 & 9 -
Chinese Exclusion Acts
These acts stopped Chinese immigration for 10 years; that is, no Chinese immigrants could enter the U.S. as laborers or become citizens during this period of time. As a result, the Chinese population in the U.S. decreased from 105,465 in 1880 to 61,639 in 1920 (6, 7). -
Significance of Chinese Exclusion Acts
These acts demonstrated that it was both legal and socially acceptable to restrict the immigration of people of certain nationalities and ethnicities. Ultimately, these acts had the power to change the ethnic profile of the United States population. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
This Supreme Court case determined that “separate but equal” was legal. Homer Plessy, who was ⅛ African and ⅞ Caucasian, sat in the white section of a bus. When he revealed that he was black and refused to move to the colored section, he was arrested (15, 21). -
Significance of Plessy v. Ferguson
This case set a precedence for many laws that legalized segregation and discrimination. Although the case does not relate directly to immigration, it reveals social attitudes of the time. Many U.S. citizens were not willing to allow blacks to fully participate in “their” society. These prejudices against people who were “different” also applied to immigrants; thus, they would have shaped immigration policy by limiting immigrants’ economic, political, and social opportunities. -
Ozawa v. United States
After living in the United States for 20 years, Takao Ozawa, who was Japanese, was denied citizenship on the grounds that he was not “white.” This Supreme Court case upheld the decision, ruling that previous immigration acts, which said that immigration was limited to “free white[s]” and people of African ancestry was still in effect (10, 20). -
Significance of Ozawa v. United States
This court case had huge implications for immigration: it essentially allowed the federal government to deny citizenship to any non-white non-African American person. Since the definition of “white” is particularly unclear and thus very subjective, this court case made it possible for the government to blatantly discriminate against immigrants by restricting citizenship. -
Significance of Immigration Quota Act
The importance of the Immigration Quota Act was to show that foriegn policy in the US has been racist towards some races and not to others. They also have shown that they can be self serving if the situation does not seem to be overly beneficial. -
Immigration Quota Act
The Immigration Quota Act of 1924 aka the Johnson-Reed Act limited the number of immigrants to come to the United States through a national origins quota. It provided immigration visas for two percent of the total number of each nationality in the US as shown by the 1890 national census. By doing this it completely excluded immigrants from Asia. This Act, however, went against a treaty created by the US and Japan called the Gentleman’s Agreement. (18) -
Buck v. Bell
Carrie Buck was a single, pregnant 18-year-old who was deemed “feeble-minded” and subsequently put in an institution. The institution wished to sterilize her and in Buck v. Bell, the Supreme Court upheld the Virginia law that legalized forced sterilization of the disabled and “feeble-minded” (they determined that the law did not violate constitutional rights) (3, 4). -
Significance of Buck v. Bell
This event speaks to the social attitudes of the early 1900s. U.S. citizens seemed to want to better their society and the population; thus, sterilization became a tool to “weed out” supposedly unfit members of society. Because immigrants were not always deemed valuable members of society and because society was attempting to become “fit,” discrimination against immigrants became socially acceptable and appeared beneficial for society. -
Bracero Program
In 1942, the Bracero Program provided experienced Mexican farmers to work the fields while many men were still fighting in WWII. They allowed for the United States agricultural exports to stay alive and continue booming. They thought that by leaving their families to work on fields in the US that they would earn a vast amount of money on the other side of the border, however it was almost the opposite, most braceros and others alike thought that this was another form of slavery. (11) -
Importance of Bracero Program
The Bracero Program shows the difference between white and blue collar jobs as well as the people they deem fit to perform these jobs. Also, it shows that the braceros were only trying to find the "American Dream" and bring more money to their families. However they were tricked into slavery and were forced to do the agricultural work until the farmers came back from WWII -
Operation Wetback
Devised in 1954 under the supervision of the commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization Service, it came about because of the onslaught of immigrants coming to the US for their “American Dream”. Intense border enforcement was trying to deport all of the "illegal aliens," but common practice of Operation Wetback focused on Mexicans in general. The police swarmed through Mexican American barrios throughout the southeastern states. (14) -
Importance of Operation Wetback
A precursor to the deportaion of "illegal immigrants" from Arizona. The people of Arizona now adays were much like the people back then, they had to provide visas and paperwork at any given moment. Meaning that if you have an hispanic complextion, the police will try to firgure out if you are reallly an American citizen. It is gender profiling, and an injustice to human beings living in the US -
Civil Rights Movement Begins
The Civil Rights movement was a movement emphasizing the lack of rights faced by various individuals, ecspecially African- Americans and minorities between approximately 1955 - 1970. It played a significant role in the progression of immigration into the United States because it highlighted the importance of equal human rights for all individuals, and brought attention to the experiences of immigrants all over the country.
Citation (8) -
Space Race
The Cold War was a battle that pitted the world's two great powers, democratic and capitalist United States against the communist Soviet Union. In the late 1950s, space would become another dramatic arena for this competition, as each side sought to prove the superiority of its technology, its military firepower and its political/economic system. (26) -
Importance of the Space Race
As political leaders try to "one up" the other, the people in their country are carefully inspected to make sure they are patiotic and loyal to the flag. Therefore in this time, when there is a multitude of different cultures and identities, people are frightened that they are anarchist or will decide to become a double agent. -
Immigration Act of 1965
In this act, 170,000 immigrants from the Eastern Hemisphere were granted residency, with no more than 20,000 per country. 120,000 immigrants from the Western Hemisphere, with no “national limitations,” were also to be admitted. The act was significant as it atoned for past discrimination (as it was during the Civil rights movement), allowed entry of immigrants due to their profession/ skills, and shifted immigration to non-european countries, especially third- world countries.
Citation (12) -
U.S. v. Wong Kim Ark
Wong Kim Ark was a Chinese man who went to visit China after living in the U.S. for years; when he tried to return, he was temporarily barred from entering on the grounds that he was not a citizen. This was complicated by the fact that his parents were still subjects of the Chinese emperor. However, because Ark was born in the United States, the Supreme Court ruled that he was a citizen under the Fourteenth Amendment (16, 29). -
Significance of U.S. v. Wong Kim Ark
This decision is important to the immigration debate: all people This decision is important in that it can prevent discrimination: all people born in the U.S. are citizens, regardless of their parents’ citizenship status and their ethnicity. However, the decision is still controversial today. Some feel that immigrants take advantage of this law and come to the U.S so their children are born here and thus are citizens. -
Orderly Departure Program 1979
UNHRC and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam signed the ODP; a program that would allow individuals to leave the country safely and legally, versus being forced to join “the Vietnamese boat people.” Over 500, 000 individuals left the country under the ODP, creating thousands of Vietnamese refugees in the United States and all over the globe. This event was significant as it defined who could immigrate from the country of Vietnam to the US, and caused border tensions within the United States. (19) -
CA Proposition 187
The proposition's purpose was to “to establish a system of required notification by and between the state and local government with the federal government to prevent illegal aliens in the United States from receiving benefits or public services in the State of California." This proposition caused various tensions within the state at the local and federal level, as feelings of threat began to arise within the nation.Citation (5) -
Southwest Border Security Bill
The bill signed by President Barack Obama was a comprehensive plan to secure the nation's Southwest Border, specifically targeted at preventing drugs, illegal weapons, money, and the trafficking of human beings, This called for $600 million to be added to the border institution, as well as opening more National Guard troops to the border. This bill was deemed significant, as it not only would make the borders stronger but would also allow individuals here to get citizenship. (17)
