12AD.2.5 Naturalization Act of 1790

This Naturalization Act of 1790 was passed by Congress in the early years of nationhood. The criteria for naturalization connected to race, status of servitude, and the amount of time someone had lived in the United States. Parts of this law existed for a few years (the timeline for how long someone must live in this country prior to naturalization was later extended because of a concern that too many people could naturalize and vote under this act), but it was still the first act that gave criteria for who was a citizen and who could become a citizen. As you read through this document, make a list of who could be eligible for citizenship, and then make a list of the groups of people who would be ineligible for citizenship. What evidence does this act provide that helps you answer the question, How has the meaning of citizenship changed over time?

This Naturalization Act of 1790 was passed by Congress in the early years of nationhood. The criteria for naturalization connected to race, status of servitude, and the amount of time someone had lived in the United States. Parts of this law existed for a few years (the timeline for how long someone must live in this country prior to naturalization was later extended because of a concern that too many people could naturalize and vote under this act), but it was still the first act that gave criteria for who was a citizen and who could become a citizen. Draw students’ attention to the fact that this was the only definition of who a citizen was in 1790. It would be up to future lawmakers to clarify this important question. Ask students to connect the groups explicitly described in this law to those implicitly left out. This is an important marker in the federal government’s defining of citizenship, and this document can help with an early definition of citizenship, which would evolve slowly over the next 200 years.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That any Alien, being a free white person, who shall have resided within the limits and under the jurisdiction of the United States for the term of two years, may be admitted to become a citizen thereof, on application to any common law court of record, in any one of the states wherein he shall have resided for the term of one year at least, and making proof to the satisfaction of such court, that he is a person of good character, and taking the oath or affirmation prescribed by law, to support the constitution of the United States, which oath or affirmation such court shall administer; and the clerk of such court shall record such application, and the proceedings thereon; and thereupon such person shall be considered as a citizen of the United States. And the children of such persons so naturalized, dwelling within the United States, being under the age of twenty-one years at the time of such naturalization, shall also be considered as citizens of the United States. And the children of citizens of the United States, that may be born beyond sea, or out of the limits of the United States, shall be considered as natural born citizens: Provided, That the right of citizenship shall not descend to persons whose fathers have never been resident in the United States: Provided also, That no person heretofore proscribed by any state, shall be admitted a citizen as aforesaid, except by an act of the legislature of the state in which such person was proscribed. Approved, March 26, 1790.