On March 26th in 1790 the congress enacted the Naturalization Act in the U.S.. Eight years later on June 18th President John Adams signed the Act into power in the U.S.. This Act was the first of four laws known as the Alien and Sedition Acts. The law was when immigrants moved into the U.S. they would have to live in one place for 14 years to have a chance to become a citizen. After their 14 years they would also have to add an additional 9 years in America. Also this law was to protect the nation from the enemy that wanted to weaken the inexperienced U.S. government. However the Democratic- Republicans did not agree and attacked the law as unconstitutional. It allowed immigrants that were not part of a nation that the U.S. was at war with at the time of application to become citizens. This of course left out indentured servants, slaves, and most women from being able to become citizens. This event is important to America because it is the first part of the sequence of laws that allows us to either be citizens of the USA or not to be citizens.
The Alien Act of 1798 was passed by the Federalist- controlled Congress on June 25 of 1798 and President John Adams also signed it that year. This law was passed and signed in the nation of the U.S.. Along with the Naturalization Act the Alien Act is also apart of the four laws known as Alien and Sedition Acts. The residency requirement for America increased from five to fourteen years. Also if the president thought that an alien a.k.a immigrant were to harm the peace of the United States he would have the power to deport them and imprison them. When Aliens are being deployed it is a requirement to have excerpt sailers for ships which have to report to officers of customs. The law was also ...
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...ded up getting threatened by one French representative.
After the four laws were made and after awhile with the laws enacted major changes started to happen. For example the definition of citizenship was and was officially valid in the 19th century following the American Civil War. Also in 1868 The Fourteenth Amendment was put into action which was anyone born in the U.S. would become a citizen no matter what race. Supreme Court in 1898 for the United States vs. Wong Kim Ark gave citizenship to a child born in America with Parents who are Chinese. After the Federalist party collapsed some states resolutions remained the process of being stimulated for states’ rights to publicly support a particular cause. Which were used for models in preparation for a preliminary version for the declarations of secession by Southern states which was on the eve of the Civil War.
Over the years, there have been laws passed to benefit immigrants, but some have laws have done nothing. Back in the 1960's there was Act that was passed that accepted all immigrants of all nationalities on a roughly equal basis. From reading 'America's Shifting Views in Immigration,' I found out information that the U.S. was willing to accept immigrants. In 'America's Shifting Views on Immigration,' author Mike Kubic states that "In 1965, another seminal measure, the Immigration and Nationality Act, for the first time committed the United States to accepting immigrants of all nationalities on a roughly equal basis." This is important for immigrants because America is now starting to accept all immigrants of all races with every immigrant being
During the time period of 1860 and 1877 many major changes occurred. From the beginning of the civil war to the fall of the reconstruction, the United States changed dramatically. Nearly one hundred years after the Declaration of Independence which declared all men equal, many social and constitutional alterations were necessary to protect the rights of all people, no matter their race. These social and constitutional developments that were made during 1860 to 1877 were so drastic it could be called a revolution.
The American Civil War had a very profound effect upon the American Constitution and upon American constitutionalism generally. The Civil war had indeed been fought over a question of states’ rights, among other things, and the states’ rights interpretation had actually lost and was, to a degree, a casualty of the wartime period. Further, that casualty was swiftly hammered into its coffin by three amendments which were enacted in 1865, 1868 and 1870 – the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. The Fourteenth Amendment ultimately became the heart and soul of the modern American Constitution. Most of the legal battle’s surrounding the United States Bill of Rights have been to make it a truly national document – such that states may not violate its provisions. The Fourteenth Amendment finally made this possible.
From the start of the American Civil War, 1860, until the end of the Reconstruction, 1877, the United States of America endured what can be considered a revolution. Prior to the year 1860, there was a lack of union because of central government power flourishing rather than state power. Therefore, there was a split of opposite sides, North and South, fighting for authority. One major issue that came into mind was of slavery. At first, there were enactments that were issued to limit or rather prevent conflict to erupt, such as the numerous compromises, Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850. They did not fulfill the needs of the states, South states in particular; therefore, in the year 1860, the Civil War had commenced. There was the issue of inequality of Blacks in suffrage, politics, and the use of public facilities. However, much constitutional and social advancement in the period culminated in the revolution. To a radical extent, constitutional development between 1860 and 1877 amount to a revolution because of events like the Emancipation Proclamation, Civil Rights Act, the amendments that tried to change African Americans lives in American Society and contributed to get the union together. There is the social developments as well that to a lesser extent had amounted to the revolution because of organizations like the Klu Klux Klan, Freedmen’s Bureau lacking, and discrimination against African Americans that caused progression of violence and white supremacy.
The Alien Act was a law that was signed by John Adams to weaken the Republican party. Because all the poor people and people from other country that moved here was a Republican and John Adams was with the Federalist party. Before the Alien Act was signed in to law, people from other country that live in the U.S, also called Foreigners, could became a citizen when they lived here for 5 years, but after the law was signed they had to want for 14 years till they can become a citizen(Welcome to Our Documents). This made the Republican party angry because you need to be a citizen of the U.S to vote and now they will have less people to vote because most of the Republican were Foreigners. The Alien Act also gave the President power to deport any Foreigner that if he thought they were being bad in this country. This also made the Republicans angry(Library of
The Naturalization Act of 1790 was the first piece of United States federal legislation regarding immigration and it provided a national and uniformed rule for the process of naturalization. Under provisions of Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution, it granted citizenship to “all free white persons” after two years residence and provided that the children of citizens born outside the borders of the United States would be “considered as natural born citizens” (Naturalization Acts, United States, 1790-1795). This was an important piece of legislation that encouraged immigration necessary for the continued growth and prosperity of the republic. The individuals that it was intended to attract and protect were European whites, specifically men who would bring skills and participate in the emerging manufacturing and mining labor
The passage of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution was a significant event in the history of our country because it made anyone born here citizens, established how representatives each state gets and paid off the war debts for the North. On June 8th and 13th, 1866 the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution was passed by both houses of congress. The stated purpose of the fourteenth amendment was to grant citizenship and to protect and define the civil rights of freed slaves. In reality, the purpose of the fourteenth amendment was to ensure the northern states political and economic advantage over the southern states. Section two of the fourteenth amendment allowed the north to legally deny the right to vote to almost every white man in the south. This was done by using the line "for participation in the rebellion." The north made sure that the word "participation" could mean almost anything. The northern states use section three of the fourteenth amendment to expel almost the entire southern leadership from every level and branch of government. Section four of the fourteenth amendment protected northern politicians, military leaders, and businessmen from being prosecuted for financial fraud and guaranteed that the north would not have to pay for the southern losses from the war. All in all, the significance of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution was that slaves were granted citizenship, and basic civil rights, but also guaranteed that the northern states would have a great advantage over the southern state for years to come.
The laws undermined the thirteenth, fourteenth,and fifteenth amendments. The thirteenth amendment completely abolished slavery.The fourteenth amendment stated that all people born or naturalized in America were American citizens, even African Americans and former slaves. The fifteenth amendment stated that people could not be denied the right to vote no matter their race, color, or former condition of servitude. States, especially those in the south, started passing laws that pushed African Americans down into second class. Southern states soon made the Grandfather Clause, all voters must pay a poll tax, take a literacy and property test, and an understanding clause. They were able to do this by saying it was to disqualify the the poor and unintelligence people from voting.
More than five decades after the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, many immigrants in the United States still follow the foundations of this immigration law. Also known as the Hart-Cellar Act, it has introduced a new age of mass immigration and impacted the lives of millions of new Americans. The fundamentals of this act are family reunification and employment preferences, which are still maintained in any efforts to reform the 1965 legislation. This new law replaced the National Origins system that was implemented in 1924 as the first United States comprehensive set of immigration regulations. http://www.asian-nation.org/1965-immigration-act.shtml http://cis.org/1965ImmigrationAct-MassImmigration
The debate of the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 revealed bitter controversies on a number of issues. Most of the controversies had, however, arose even before these acts; as far back as the penning of the Constitution. The writers of the Constitution knew that as time proceeded, the needs and demands of the nation and of the people would change, leading to controversy. By not assigning specific powers to specific groups/parties, governments, they unintentionally created a vast problem in the years to come.
This week I enjoyed reading Lauren Berlant’s reading, “Citizenship” and one section that stood out to me what on the U.S. Naturalization Act of 1790. This section of her article made me think about/understand through different ways the role that immigrants have had in the U.S. For instance, Berlant points out that the U.S. Naturalization Act of 1790 essentially excluded some groups of immigrants from become citizens because the requirements were freedom and whiteness. Therefore, African slaves did not have the chance of becoming citizens because they could not sell their own labor and they were not white. In addition, other immigrants who could sell their labor, but if they were not white, they could not have full rights of citizenship (e.g.
Since the 19th century immigration began to be present in America. People began to come to America to seek economic opportunities. Thus came the Immigration Reform and Control Act on November 6, 1986. It controlled legal immigration in order to lower illegal immigration. Now we see various pull factors for immigration such as education, refugee, work, family, etc. Now in the US 11 million immigrants live here, 30% are illegal. Although the president of the US can decide which laws to pass or veto , congress is in charge of American immigration laws which democrats and republicans may formulate different opinions on.
One of the earliest and most important pieces of legislation passed was the Emancipation Proclamation. President Abraham Lincoln made this proclamation in 1863; it effectively made it so the slaves in the South were legally free. However, there were still things standing in their way. There was a set of codes developed called the Black Codes that prevented African Americans from entering theaters, schools, hotels, and other public facilities. There were also the Jim Crow laws that separated blacks and whites in hospitals, orphanages, funeral homes, public transportation, and even cemeteries. These codes and laws basically forced the freed slaves to go back and work at their previous plantations. In 1866 the U.S. government passed the Civil Rights Act that gave all citizens, regardless of race, rights to make and enforce contracts, own and sell property, and file lawsuits in court. President Johnson vetoed the bill but both houses of Congress overrode it. Despite Congress overriding the Presidents veto, he still got his way when the act was later declared unconstitutional. A victory for the civil rights movement was in 1868 when the fourteenth amendment was introduced. It granted full citizenship to all people born or naturalized in the U.S. However, Congress said that this
Throughout the past centuries, immigration has had many positive and negative impacts on our country and society. Law and order have been the founding cornerstone of our democracy, and the mandate of the U.S. Constitution is for Congress to do the work of the people and that of the nation. Immigration has continuously been a passionate debate within our society. This particular topic will always be a sensitive subject due to Americans personal beliefs and morals.
During the 18th Century a lot of European immigrants started coming to the new land to seek new opportunities, at first since there was no laws placed, around 3 million of Europeans traveled to the Americas. Clearly some laws had to be established and that is where the Alien and Sedition act and the Naturalization act derive. As one of the congressman who supported this law, Harrison Gray Otis, clearly stated “ No need to invite hordes of Wild Irishmen, nor the turbulent and disorderly of all the world, to come here with a basic view to distract our tranquillity." These laws included new powers to deport foreigners as well as making it harder for new immigrants to vote. Previously a new immigrant would have to reside in the United States