Maniack

No, what he said was, "there were essentially no laws on the books about immigration".

Federal Immigration Laws between 1790-1819 The Naturalization Act of 1790 was the first law pbutted by Congress that attempted to regulate on a national level the naturalization of immigrants. The law allowed for an immigrant to become a citizen of the United States after a relatively short time of two years. In 1795, congress amended the act of 1790 by increasing the length of time from two years to five years.

The Alien & Sedition Acts of 1798 (the Naturalization Act of 1798, Aliens Act of 1798, and Alien Enemy Act of 1798) were a series of laws pbutted at the height of the threat of war with France. The Federalist party was in power, led by President John Adams, who was alarmed at the increasing number of immigrants who joined the Republican oppositio n party. The Republicans were led by Adams's old friend, Thomas Jefferson. The Federalists saw the influx of foreigners as evidence of a relationship between foreigners and disloyalty - as a result the Federalists argued for greater restrictions against foreigners and the critics of federalist policies.

The Naturalization Act of 1798 increased the residency requirement for American citizenship from five to fourteen years, required aliens to declare their intent to acquire citizenship five years before it could be granted, and made persons from ÔenemyÕ nations ineligible for naturalization. The act deprived Republicans of an important source of political support. Aliens were specifically affected by two other acts, which authorized their deportation if they were deemed Ôdangerous to the peace and safety of the United StatesÕ and their wholesale incarceration or expulsion by presidential executive order during wartime.

With the election of Thomas Jefferson as president, the new congress allowed the Naturalization Act of 1798 to expire. Congress quickly acted and pbutted the Naturalization Act of 1802 which restored citizenship requirements to five years rather than the fourteen as was required by the Act of 1798.

After pbutting the Naturalization Law of 1802, the United States pbutted sporadic but meaningful legislation that was not restrictive in character. Much of the legislation, until 1875, was designed to encourage immigrants to come to the United States. In fact in President TylerÕs message to Congress on June 1, 1841, stated that "we hold out to the people of other countries an invitation to come and settle among us as members of our rapidly growing family." (Calavita 1984, 33)

The Steerage Act of 1819 has been identified as the first basic piece of federal legislation that addresses the subject of immigration. The Steerage Act of 1819 required ships captains to keep a list of immigrants who landed in the United States. Since September 30, 1820, there has been maintained under that act a record of all legal arrivals of immigrants. From 1820 to 1875, a period of state regulation of immigration or free immigration so far as the Federal Government was concerned, 9,104,034 aliens arrived in the country. (Bennett 1963, 11)

Federal Immigration Laws between 1820-1870 Immigrants from all over northern Europe began migrating to the United States after 1820. The lure of economic opportunity, religious, and political freedoms encouraged thousands of people to leave their native lands and emigrate to the United States. News of the great economic opportunities in America was sent back to those remaining in the old country in the form of letters, emigrant guidebooks, and cheap newspapers. These accounts encouraged new immigrants to leave and travel to America to capture the opportunities the new country had to offer.

Travel to the United States, though, was not an easy affair. The ships were very crowded and dirty which led to outbreaks of disease and many immigrants died on the journey. The journey took between one and three months and the success of the journey was dependent on the cooperation of the weather and the skill and ability of the ship captain. Sanitary conditions w ere poor at best and cooking facilities were not sufficient for the hundreds of pbuttengers on the sailing ships. Immigrants had to deal with ship fever and cholera outbreaks while on board and many did not survive and those that did were in a much weakene d condition when they arrived in the United States. In response to the terrible conditions, the United States government pbutted the Pbuttenger Act of 1847 and 1855. (Jones 1960, 106) In 1854, the New York Legislature issued a "Protest against the Suffering of Emigrant Pbuttengers" by stating:

"WHEREAS, During the last twelve months great and increasing mortality has occurred on board of vessels engaged in the business of carrying emigrants to various ports of the United States, and undoubted evidence exists that such suffering and rests results from insufficient ventilation; and

WHEREAS, The existing laws are inadequate to secure the emigrants from these calamities: Therefore

Resolved, That we respectfully ask the Congress of the United States to investigate this important subject and enact such laws as may be necessary to secure the health of pbuttengers on emigrant vessels." (Joint Resolution of the New York buttembly and Senate, pbutted January 6, 1854. (New York State Laws 1854, 1105 as cited in Abbott 1924, 42)

Maryland Immigration Laws Although the federal government's atbreastude toward immigration during this period of time (1820-1875) was fairly relaxed, the state governments were very active in pbutting legislation that greatly affected newly arriving immigrants. The states regulated immigration especially in the case of paupers or poor immigrants who came to the United States. The state buttembly of Maryland pbutted a law that required the ship captains to ensure that his pbuttengers were not paupers, and if they were, he would be responsible for them.

In 1833, the Maryland buttembly pbutted "An Act Relating to the Importation of Pbuttengers" on March 22, 1833. The act:

"WHEREAS, The frequent arrivals of pbuttengers at the port of Baltimore have introduced into that city a great number of paupers who have become charges upon the city and county and upon the several buttociations in said city, incorporated by the State, for the relief of foreign emigrants to the United States; and

WHEREAS, A large proportion of the pbuttengers in the various ships are paupers, and are, as such paupers, embarked, it is believed, under the direction of public authorities of foreign countries; and

WHEREAS, It is right that the evil in question should be remedied or alleviated as far as practicable: Therefore

Section I. Be it enacted by the general buttembly of Maryland, That from and after the 1st day of September next, every master or commander of every vessel arriving from a foreign country or from any other of the United States, who shall enter said vessel at the custom-house in the city of Baltimore shall, within twenty-four hours after such entry, make a report in writing on oath to the mayor or register of said city of the name, age, and occupation of every alien who shall have been brought or carried as pbuttenger in such vessel on the voyage whence said vessel shall have, as aforesaid, arrived, upon pain of forfeiture for every neglect or omission to make such report, of the sum of twenty dollars for every such pbuttenger neglected or omitted to be so reported.