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
The Continental Congress enacts the Northwest Ordinance on July 13, 1787, creating the Northwest Territory and establishing governance procedures for the region between the Great Lakes and the Ohio River (modern Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and part of Minnesota). Article VI of the …
Continental CongressNathan DaneSouthern state delegatesSlaveholdersslaveryfugitive-slave-clauseterritorial-expansioninstitutional-corruptionlegal-framework+1 more
The Virginia House of Burgesses enacts “An act concerning Servants and Slaves,” a comprehensive 41-section legal code consolidating and strengthening nearly two decades of piecemeal slave legislation into a unified framework that permanently establishes racial slavery as Virginia’s …
Virginia House of BurgessesVirginia ColonySlaveholdersslaveryinstitutional-corruptionslave-codeslegal-frameworkracial-caste
The Virginia House of Burgesses enacts a law establishing that “all children borne in this country shalbe held bond or free only according to the condition of the mother,” implementing the Roman legal doctrine of partus sequitur ventrem (literally “that which is born follows the …
Virginia House of BurgessesVirginia ColonySlaveholdersslaveryinstitutional-corruptionslave-codeslegal-frameworkgenerational-bondage