National Identity & Citizenship
HIS 206
Ideological Definition of National Identity
 Republican ideology claims
universal application
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Social contract theory
Citizens’ rights emphasized
Rhetoric contradicted by
reality, however
 Egalitarian principles which
define U.S. citizenship:
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Assimilation – conforming
to dominant culture
Asylum – welcoming
refugees seeking political or
religious liberty
Assimilation
 Traditional assumption that
nations were bound by
common language, religion &
culture didn’t apply to U.S.
 British heritage dominant,
however
 Michael-Guillaum Jean de
Crevecoeur expressed
confidence in melting pot in
his Letters from an
American Farmer (1782)
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Assimilation eliminated
differences
Celebrated “this great American
asylum”
Asylum
 Willingness to be asylum
dependent upon
confidence in assimilation
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Refugees had to assimilate
Noble ideal of providing
asylum lent moral purpose to
assimilation
Asylum helped distinguish
New World from old, as
Thomas Paine wrote in
Common Sense (1776)
 Throughout first 100 years,
confidence in assimilation
remained high
Citizenship
 Ancient Greeks est. basis for modern idea of
citizenship
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Fused 2 concepts:
Notion of state having boundaries within which decisions are
made about inhabitants’ lives
 Notion of inhabitants participating in decision-making process as
joint proprietors
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Romans extended definition & scope of citizenship as empire
expanded – finally made all free inhabitants citizens in 212 CE
 Articles of Confederation (1777-1788) left
citizenship & naturalization up to each state
Naturalization
 Constitution (1788 - ) gave Congress power over
immigration & naturalization
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Immigrants barred from Presidency, & residency requirements
for House & Senate
Art. I, Sec. 8 allows Congress to est. uniform rule of
naturalization
Art. I, Sec. 9 allows Congress to regulate immigration, with $10
limit on head tax
 Naturalization Act of 1790 limited citizenship to
“free white persons” of “good moral character”
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Residency requirement: 2 years in country, 1 in state
Courts determined eligibility & administered oath of allegiance
Making Naturalization More Difficult
 Naturalization Act of 1795 raised residency
requirement to 5 years & required declaration of intent to
seek citizenship 3 years prior to naturalization
 Naturalization Act of 1798 part of Alien & Sedition
Acts – caused by Quasi-wartime hysteria
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raised residency requirement to 14 years & forbade naturalization of
enemy aliens
Alien Act gave President power to deport aliens who were “dangerous
to the peace & safety of the United States”
Alien Enemy Act allows President to detain or deport enemy aliens
in wartime
 Naturalization Act of 1802 lowered residency
requirement back to 5 years, but required sworn testimony
of 2 witnesses
Expanding Eligibility for Citizenship
 1855 act granted derivative citizenship to foreign-born wives
& children of U.S. citizens
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1907 law stripped citizenship from women who married aliens
Repealed in 1922 in cases of marriage to Europeans, but not until 1931 in
cases of marriage to Asians
 1870 Naturalization Act extended eligibility to “persons
of African nativity and African descent”
 1906 Naturalization Act standardized process to
eliminate fraud & competition between courts
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Required filing of Declaration of Intent (‘first papers”) & then petition 27 years later
Created Bureau of Naturalization to complement Bureau of Imm.
Required knowledge of English language for the 1st time
Tracking Resident Aliens
 Alien Registration Act
(1940) required registration
& finger-printing of all aliens
over 14 years old
 1990 Immigration Act
transferred exclusive
jurisdiction to Attorney
General
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Lowered state residency
requirement to 3 months
Created exceptions to English
language requirement
1940 Alien Registration Card
Modern “Green Card”