Naturalization Act of 1790

The Naturalization Act of 1790 was the first law in the United States Congress to create clear rules for becoming a United States citizen through naturalization. It was passed on March 26, 1790. The law said only “free white person(s)… of good character” could become citizens. This helped newcomers know the rules for joining the country, because before this, each state had its own rules.

The law was inspired by an earlier British law called the Plantation Act 1740 from the British Parliament. It used ideas from that law, like how long someone had to live in the country before they could apply.

When judges read the Naturalization Act, they sometimes thought being “white” also meant being Christian or Jewish. This led to some Muslim people being turned away until a court decision in 1944 allowed a man from Saudi Arabia to become a citizen.

Provisions

The Naturalization Act of 1790 set the first rules for becoming a citizen of the United States. To apply, someone had to live in the country for two years and in their state for one year. They would then ask a court to become a citizen. If the court thought the person was good, they would promise to support the Constitution of the United States. Any children of the applicant who were under 21 would also become citizens.

The law said that children born outside the U.S. to two citizen parents could be citizens too, but only if their fathers had lived in the United States. This was the only time the U.S. law used the phrase "natural born citizen." The rules also followed old customs that treated married women differently under the law.

Afterward

The Naturalization Act of 1795 replaced the 1790 Act. It made the waiting time to become a citizen longer and added more steps. Later, the Naturalization Act of 1798 made these rules stricter, but then the Naturalization Law of 1802 brought things back to the 1795 rules.

Over time, laws about who could become a citizen changed a lot. After the American Civil War, the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868 said that anyone born in the United States was a citizen, except for some Native Americans on reservations. In 1924, the Indian Citizenship Act made all Native Americans citizens.

The rules kept changing to make sure everyone was treated fairly, no matter their race or where they came from. By 1952, laws were updated so that no one would be treated unfairly when trying to become a citizen.