The Naturalization Process During The Late 19th And Early 20th Century

“Our Constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens.” Said Justice John Marshall Harlan in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson. (“Oyez, Oyez, Oh Yay!”) In 1890 Louisiana surprisingly got the ability to pass a law called the Separate Car Act that said that all railroad companies that carried passengers must provide separate but equal services for both white and non-white passengers. (“Landmark Cases”) The penalty for sitting in a white-designated railroad car when you were not of that ethnicity was a fine of twenty-five dollars or twenty days in jail. (“Landmark Cases”) There was a doctrine passed that everything was “separate but equal.” This doctrine was false however because in almost all situations the

Since the beginning of time, individuals have been discriminated against based on their religion, culture, race, and sexual orientation. The article “How Did Jews Become White Folks?” by Karen B. Brodkin highlighted the struggles that European immigrants, Jews, and African Americans faced in the United States pre and post World War II. In her article Brodkin focused on the idea of “whiteness” in America, and how the word has evolved over time to include a variety of ethnicities.

Around the late 1800’s and early 1900’s America’s ethnicity vastly expanded; the streets of New York city flooded with immigrants in prospect of new lives for their families and fresh starts. “...From eastern and southern Europe rather than western and northern Europe…” (pg. 738, America A Narrative History), the geography varied far and wide. Upon entering the land of freedom, most of the immigrants were to be inspected at the ever famous “Edison Island” in New York. After embarking towards the substantially immense crowds, lice checks, welfare checks, and possibly a standard test determining if you could read or write was given. The streets began to be bustling with foreign languages being shouted in every direction. To some “nativists” this expansion was very horrifying, these people were taking jobs and depriving Americans of opportunities. “Beginning in the 1880’s, nativist advocated restrictive immigration laws and won passage of the Chinese exclusion Act.” (

"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddle masses yearning to breathe free, it’s the retched refuse of your teaming shore. Send these the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door" (Lazarus, 1883). The inscription written on the pedestal of the statue of liberty is a symbol of freedom and a beacon of hope for those who desire a chance at a better life full of opportunities. Although the United States has long been characterized as a sanctuary for the impoverished and the oppressed, anti-immigrant sentiment—known as nativism—permeates throughout American history. Immigration patterns to the United States reflect economic, political and social conditions worldwide; we have an open door policy during times of prosperity, but we tend to slam the doors shut when times get tough.

During the years between 1882 and 2000, immigration and naturalization were always important issues for the United States. The United States’ stance on its policies and laws towards immigrants and their naturalization saw drastic changes during this time period, which reasons ranges from American’s experience with the immigrants and the nation’s changing relationship with other countries. During the beginning of the time period between 1882 and 2000, the United States took a restrictive approach on its immigration policies and naturalization law, mainly because of American’s fear of job competition with the immigrants, and also because of their racism. However, the change in relationships between United States and other nations during World War II marked the turning point of the nation’s approach on those policies and laws, where the United States slowly began to reopen its door of immigration. And in the late 20th century, the United States continued its approach on open immigration policies and naturalization laws that began during World War II due to the same reason, but at the same time the nation also passed restrictive policies towards undocumented immigrants.

World War I military draft cards are another resource that could assist you in determining time of Naturalization and location. As can be seen in the example provided it is clearly noted that Myer was a Naturalized citizen.

America’s society has been built on racial beliefs. As much as we believe that America is a country of acceptance, freedom, and equality, people of color have been thought of and treated as inferior races. As research continued, scientists believed that other white races like the Europeans, Germans, and Irish, were white people in transition and would eventually meet their high standards. They believed that they could assimilate into American society and become white Americans; however, Asians, blacks, or any other minority was immediately disregarded as ever becoming American. Being white was a ticket to citizenship. In 1790, congress passed an act called the Naturalization Law, which stated that only free white immigrants could become naturalized citizens. Later on in 1870, the law expanded

Despite popular belief that the category of whiteness grants many advantages, that was not the case with Mexican-Americans. There were several Mexican-Americans that had whiteness features, and passed as being white, but the Anglo’s were not fond of Mexican-Americans being labeled as white. This led to forms of racial supremacy through legal exclusions, George A. Martinez in Mexican-Americans and Whiteness writes that “Mexican-Americans were earmarked for exclusive employment in the lowest brackets of employment and paid less than Anglo-Americans for the same jobs.” (Martinez 33). Mexican-Americans were treated unequally just because they were Mexican-Americans and not real Americans, these forms of racial supremacy continued, and as a result they were excluded from receiving their full and equal rights.

Peggy Pascoe’s “What Comes Naturally: Miscegenation Law and the Making of Race in America,” published in 2012, is a historical and legal analysis that emphasizes the impact of racial segregation and desegregation in our society. The book primarily focuses on the roles of race and gender in these extremely significant legal happenings, though other important talking points are acknowledged as well. The main narrative of racial implication is the underlying theme in Pascoe’s writing. Pascoe presents the hard facts and inevitable truth about miscegenation laws in the United States during a time where society was torn on these very trying issues. Comparing the more modern laws to those established in the days of white and native American marriage issues, Pascoe presents the argument that these laws were established and maintained in order to preserve White supremacy and the patriarchal society it thrived in. These laws allowed for white men to thrive socially and economically while minority- and female-held positions in society became scarce. Pascoe clearly feels very strongly on these legal and historical matters, which led her to write such a bold book. Written from the point of view of an outsider looking in, Pascoe’s main point was to educate the reader of the significance of miscegenation laws in the United States. This book functions like a historical analysis, and was published posthumously. “What Comes Naturally” is targeted towards

Over the course of history immigrants began to settle and occupy New York City and many other growing towns like Chicago and Philadelphia. These immigrants faced many harsh treatments from the native born Americans. When the immigrants came to America they had nowhere to go. They ended up moving into neighborhoods that were highly neglected and buildings that were very run down and poverty stricken. The buildings they moved into were known as tenements. They are for multiple families and they are set up like apartments. The tenements were very well known for their small size and they contained no more than two rooms. One room was the kitchen and the other was a bedroom. This was an issue for families containing many members because the lack

To get to understand Immigration you have to know what immigration is, the word Immigrant means,”Someone who is a Non-United States citizen in America or planning on going to America with the intent to reside here permanently.” There is multiple methods to becoming a United States citizen, Spouse of a child, immediate relatives, His/her employment, refugees (someone fearful of persecution), and Naturalization. Naturalization by far the hardest, has some fairly sequential rules, 18 years of age, a lawful resident of U.S.A., a good moral character, have lived in the U.S. for a prior five years, and probably the hardest part the test. The test has gotten so difficult that the pass rate is a 72.2% (by a 2012 study). The test is divided up into

It was the Spring of 1903, and I was part of a huge crowd of Immigrants packed onto one steamship. All I was hopeful for was to have a better life in America, as it was a land of hope where immigrants from all over the world came. However, my hope had started to diminish as the conditions on the boat were absolutely terrible. It was a combination of the stench and the number of people packed onto the ship. The ship was very dirty and smelly, and there were only two bathrooms, which were also unclean. In addition, everywhere I looked there were people getting extremely sick. The ship was also hot, so every single person on board was sweaty, and no one showered, therefore the stench was unbelievable. It felt as if the voyage took years to complete, but finally, the voyage had ended. At that point, everyone gathered on deck to see the one and only Statue of Liberty, that had welcomed me into the United States of America.

Many of the factors that led to the flood of immigrants into the country during the nineteenth century were due to technological innovations. The steamboat especially shorted travel time and made it cheaper for the common folk to travel between their home country and America. Another reason was the rapid mechanization of agriculture which forced many people from the traditional farming based jobs and into the cities around the world for work. The book describes that this as an extension to the trends before that, where European laborers would migrate around the continent during the harvest seasons looking for working as well as later on to enter the rising industries. The fact that steam travel had decreased travel time by so much simply made

As time went on and we got further into the 19th century, people's positive thoughts about immigrants became negative and harsh. At first, the Americans thought that immigrants could help with working jobs and filling up the unused lands but soon that all changed. People began to fear their "perfect American society" was being threatened by immigrants customs and beliefs. The fact that immigrants had their own religions, different genes, and new customs was alarming to people who had never seen things like this before. The Americans were so unpleased with these new people in the United States that they created groups and had nativist movements. Some of these movements include the Know-Nothing party, the Immigration Restriction League of

Since the discovery of the United States, the Western world has been built upon migrants coming to seek new opportunities for personal advancement. Preceding the first successful colonization of Chesapeake Bay by England and signing of the Declaration Of Independence in the dawn of the 19 century, the New World became just that: a land of innovation and liberation from oppressive forces beyond and within international borders. Conservatives have forgotten their almost identical roots as former immigrants from England just centuries ago.