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The Articles established a framework of government for the thirteen states. Citizenship was not defined clearly. It stated that “free inhabitants of the states shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of free citizens in the several states.”

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Although the new Constitution guaranteed the rights and freedoms of citizens, the issue of citizenship was not defined well. The Constitution defined citizenship as open to persons born or naturalized in the US. It stated that “The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several states.”

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The Naturalization Act of 1790 decided who got to be an American citizen specifically. It limited access to citizenship to white immigrants who had resided in the U.S. for at least two years and had children under twenty-one. It left out groups like indentured servants, slaves, free Blacks, and Asians.

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This act increased the period of required residence in the U.S. to be qualified for citizenship from two to five years. It also introduced a two-step naturalization process. Immigrants intending to naturalize would have to go to their local courts and declare their intention at least three years prior to their formal application. They also have to take an oath of allegiance to the US and renounce their former sovereign.

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The Naturalization Act, one of the four Alien and Sedition Acts, extended the residency required for citizenship from five to fourteen years.

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The United States purchased the Louisiana Territory from France, famously known as the Louisiana Purchase, and guaranteed citizenship to those who previously held French citizenship.

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The Steerage Act provided for an accounting of incoming immigrants.

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During the war with Mexico, the U.S. acquired more territory in the southeast through the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Around eighty-thousand Mexicans within the new borders became American citizens.

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A non-american woman could gain US citizenship after marrying an American citizen

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The Supreme Court ruled that Americans of African descent were not citizens of the U.S.

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This amendment abolished slavery but did not grant formerly enslaved people the right of citizenship.

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The Fourteenth Amendment extended citizenship to include African Americans and all people who were born or naturalized in the United States. The law protected the basic rights of citizenship and guaranteed citizens equal protection under the law. The amendment states, “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.”

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Signed by President Chester A. Arthur, this act banned the immigration of Chinese laborers for ten years and prohibited the Chinese who were already in the US from becoming citizens.

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During this case, it was ruled that the citizenship clause of the Fourteenth Amendment would extend to include native-born Chinese Americans.

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September 22, 1922: Married Women’s Act/The Cable Act: 

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September 22, 1922: Married Women’s Act/The Cable Act: 

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Made some women’s citizenship independent of their marital status. (Allowed a woman to keep her US citizenship when marrying a non American man).

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Legislation that restricted the number of immigrants permitted to enter the US, creating a system of quotas that mandated how many immigrants could come from each country. “It limited the number of immigrants that could be admitted to the U.S. to two percent of the total number of individuals from each nationality that resided in the United States in 1890.” Border Patrol was also established.

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Homer P. Snyder sponsors the General Citizenship Act, allowing all Native Americans born in the US to become US citizens.

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The U.S. government incarcerated 120,000 men, women, and children of Japanese descent, regardless of citizenship.

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June 30, 1944: The Citizen Renunciation Crisis:

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June 30, 1944: The Citizen Renunciation Crisis:

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American Citizens could renounce their American citizenship on American soil if approved by the attorney general. This causes 5400 citizens to renounce their citizenship after failing the loyalty questionnaire after the end of the internment camps.

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This Act allowed for focus on an immigrant’s political ideology to determine if they are fit to enter the U.S. The law was designed to keep Communists out. After the Cold War, restrictionists called for an update on immigration law as a result of the threat of the Communist Party.

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Court case resulting in the loss of citizenship for a person who votes in Mexican elections.

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Court case which decides that US born citizenship cannot be lost because of military desertion.

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This act curtailed the quota system established in the 1920s and permitted larger numbers of non-Europeans to settle in the US. It resulted in a dramatic rise in the number of Asian and Latin American immigrants, as well as opened the country to more people from Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe. This act also gave immigration preference to highly skilled immigrants and to people with family members already in the US.

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The Immigration and Naturalization Service is replaced with the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, US Immigration and Custom Enforcement, and the US Customs and Border Protection.

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Provided naturalization for children of parents who illegally settled in the U.S.