How was immigration and naturalization handled in colonial America prior to the revolution? How was it handled both during and after the revolution?

by toxictoy
Cvilledog

I'm not a historian as such, so consider this an initial response that others will hopefully flesh out.

Immigration, in the sense of travel to the US, was basically unrestricted up until the late 1880s. There was no specific organized apparatus, at least on a national level, to inspect and admit aliens. Instead, the laws of the time were more concerned with citizenship.

To the extent we talk about citizenship of the individual colonies, initially each set its own rules. The Virginia General Assembly, for example, set its requirements for citizenship in the colony of Virginia by act during the 1657/1658 session. Additional naturalization acts were passed in 1670 and 1680. Parliament passed a naturalization act in 1709 and another, specifically applicable to the American colonies, in 1740. In 1773, Parliament passed an act restricting the colonies from making their own naturalization laws. The Crown's restrictions on immigration were cited as a complaint in the Declaration of Independence: "He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands." At the time, the colonists wanted to encourage immigration. British citizens did not need to naturalize as the colonies were part of the UK.

After the revolution, immigration controls remained largely nonexistent and naturalization was treated by both state (e.g., Virginia in 1779 and 1786) and by the federal government (1790). Federal laws touching on immigration to the US didn't begin to appear until 1798 (Alien Act). As populations moved westward, individual states advertised in Europe for immigrants and Congress passed "An Act to Encourage Immigration" on July 4, 1864 (13 Stat. 385). It wasn't until 1875 that Congress began to impose the first substantial controls, (convicts and prostitutes), with the first general immigration act being enacted in 1882 (22 Stat. 214).

Some sources on hand:

  • James H. Kettner, The Development of American Citizenship, 1608–1870 (1978)
  • Charles Gordon, Stanley Mailman, Stephen Yale-Loehr, and Ronald Y. Wada, Immigration Law and Procedure (Matthew Bender, Rev. Ed.).