The Naturalization Law of 1790 ( United States Naturalization Law of March 26, 1790 ) is the first US law to regulate the granting of American citizenship . The law applied only to “free white persons” with “due moral qualities” and left the contracted servants ( slaves , free blacks and, later, immigrants from Asia) out of scope. White women also fell under the law, but American citizenship was inherited only on the paternal side. American citizenship of the father is the only factor that made it possible to claim the status of a native born citizen [1] [2] .
Content
- 1 Conditions of obtaining citizenship
- 2 Further developments
- 3 notes
- 4 References
Citizenship Conditions
In order to verify the “proper moral qualities”, citizenship required two years of residence in the United States, including at least one year in this state. Upon reaching this deadline, the immigrant had the right to file a “ Petition for Naturalization ” in any common law court with jurisdiction in the area of residence. Having ascertained the proper moral qualities of the applicant, the court took the oath of allegiance to the US Constitution from him, the court secretary recorded the hearing, after which the applicant became a citizen of the United States.
The law guaranteed US citizenship to children of citizens born abroad. They were considered citizens by birth.
Further Events
The Law of 1790 was replaced by the Naturalization Law of 1795 which established a five-year period of residence in the United States until citizenship.
Further changes in the policy of granting citizenship followed in the second half of the 19th century after the civil war of 1861-1865 . The 14th Amendment to the US Constitution in 1868 guaranteed citizenship to all those born in the United States, regardless of race, citizenship, place of birth of parents, excluding Native Americans who lived on the reserves. Naturalization Act (1870) extended the citizenship law to natives of Africa. US Supreme Court Decision in the United States v. Kim Ark Case (1898) guaranteed citizenship to US-born children of persons of Chinese nationality.
Native Americans obtained citizenship in 1924, regardless of whether they belonged to a tribe officially recognized by the federal government. By this time, 2/3 of Native Americans were already US citizens. The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 banned any racial or sexual discrimination during naturalization [3] .
Notes
- ↑ Hymowitz. A History of Women in America / Hymowitz, Weissman. - Bantam, 1975.
- ↑ Schultz, Jeffrey D. Encyclopedia of Minorities in American Politics: African Americans and Asian Americans . - 2002 .-- P. 284.
- ↑ Daniels, Roger. Coming to America, A History in Immigration and Ethnicity in American Life.