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Aug 3, 1492
Arrival of Columbus
Columbus led his three ships - the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria - out of the Spanish port of Palos on August 3, 1492. His objective was to sail west until he reached Asia (the Indies) where the riches of gold, pearls and spice awaited. -
First shipload of 20 indentured African
The crew of the Dutch ship was starving, and as John Rolfe noted in a letter to the Virginia Company's treasurer Edwin Sandys, the Dutch traded 20 African slaves for food and supplies. -
Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves
United States federal law that stated that no new slaves were permitted to be imported into the United States -
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
officially Treaty of Peace, Friendship, Limits and Settlement between the United States of America and the Mexican Republic,[1] is the peace treaty signed in Guadalupe Hidalgo between the U.S. and Mexico that ended the Mexican–American War (1846–48). -
Fourteenth Amendment
Its Due Process Clause prohibits state and local governments from depriving persons of life, liberty, or property without certain steps being taken to ensure fairness. -
Expatriation Act
The Expatriation Act of 1868 was an act of the 40th United States Congress regarding the right to renounce one's citizenship. -
Chinese Exclusion Act
The Chinese Exclusion Act bars Chinese laborers from entering the country for 10 years. Chinese already in the United States become permanent resident aliens. The act is not repealed until 1943. -
Immigration Act
The Immigration and Naturalization Service is created to administer federal laws relating to the Admission, exclusion, naturalization and deportation of aliens residing in the U.S. -
Japanese and Korean Exclusion League
Organized labor forms the Japanese and Korean Exclusion League to protest the increase of cheap foreign labor and its perceived threat to American workers. -
Halladjian Act
Federal govenment reclassifies Armenias as caucasian. -
Immigration Act
The Immigration Act of 1917 creates the Asiatic Barred Zone, barring entry into the U.S. of persons from most of eastern Asia and the Pacific islands. The law also excludes criminals, epileptics, alcoholics, professional beggars, polygamists, anarchists, idiots and the illiterate over age 16. -
United States v. Bhaghat Singh Thind
Bhagat Singh Thind, a Punjabi Sikh who settled in the U.S., argues in court that he belongs to the Aryan race and is, thus, Caucasian and eligible for U.S. citizenship. The Supreme Court disagrees and 3 establishes Indian immigrants as “Asian,” making them ineligible and retroactively stripping citizenship from those already naturalized. -
Emergency Immigration Restriction Law
An immigration quota system based on ethnicity is established. Eighty-six percent of permitted entries are from northern Europe, while nations like Russia, the source of most Jewish immigrants, and Italy are cut back. Asians are excluded almost completely. Immigration to the U.S. drops from 1 million people a year to 165,000. -
Indian Citizenship Act
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Bracero Program
The Bracero Program provides temporary residence permits to Mexican farm-workers, easing the agricultural labor shortage in the U.S. during World War II. -
Luce-Cellar Act
President Truman signs the Luce-Celler Act, re-establishing immigration to the U.S. (within annual quotas) from the Philippines and India, and grants naturalization rights to Filipino- and IndianAmericans. -
Emancipation Proclamation
Free slaves -
Immigration Act
President Johnson signs the Immigration and Nationality Bill, which eliminates the quota system as a basis for admission. The bill is seen as an extension of the civil rights movement to end legal discrimination based on race or ethnicity. Visa limitations are set by hemisphere, and a system of preferences is created, with priority given to family reunification and needed skills. -
Naturalization Acts
The Act of 1790 was superseded by the Naturalization Act of 1795, which extended the residence requirement to five years.The Naturalization Act of 1870 extended "the naturalization laws" to "aliens of African nativity and to persons of African descent." The 1898 Supreme Court court decision in United States v. Wong Kim Ark grants citizenship -
Refugee Act of 1980
The Refugee Act establishes a separate admissions policy for refugees and reduces the global immigration quota from 290,000 to 270,000. -
Immigration Act
President George H. W. Bush signs a bill to increase legal immigration ceilings by 40 percent (to a total of 700,000), triple employment-based immigration, create a diversity admissions category and establish temporary protected status for those jeopardized by armed conflict or natural disasters in their native countries. -
Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act
: President Clinton signs into law the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation
Act. Among its provisions are cuts in government aid to all immigrants. The president also increases enforcement and penalties for undocumented persons, while decreasing avenues to citizenship. -
Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act
President Clinton signs into law the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act. Among its provisions are cuts in government aid to all immigrants. The president also increases enforcement and penalties for undocumented persons, while decreasing avenues to citizenship.