Congress passes and President George Washington signs the Naturalization Act of 1790 (1 Stat. 103), the first federal law establishing uniform rules for granting United States citizenship through naturalization. The Act limits naturalization eligibility to “free white person(s)… of good …
First CongressGeorge Washingtonracial-exclusioncitizenshipimmigrationinstitutional-racismlegal-framework+1 more
Two groups of Quakers enter the House of Representatives in New York and submit petitions calling on the federal government to ban the African slave trade and take steps toward abolishing slavery. The petitions come from three organizations: the Philadelphia and New York Yearly Meetings of the …
Society of Friends (Quakers)Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of SlaveryBenjamin FranklinJames MadisonSouthern congressmen+1 moreslaveryabolition-movementcongressional-debatepetition-rightsinstitutional-corruption+1 more