The Naturalization Act of 1790 (1 Stat. 103, enacted March 26, 1790) was a law of the United States Congress that set the first uniform rules for the granting of United States citizenship by naturalization. The law limited naturalization to "free white person(s) ... of good character". This eliminated ambiguity on how to treat newcomers, given that free black people had been allowed citizenship at the state level in many states. In reading the Naturalization Act, the courts also associated whiteness with Christianity and thus excluded Muslim immigrants from citizenship until the decision Ex Parte Mohriez recognized citizenship for a Saudi Muslim man in 1944.[5]
Congress modeled the act on the Plantation Act 1740 of the British Parliament (13 Geo. 2. c. 7) that was officially titled An Act for Naturalizing such foreign Protestants and others therein mentioned, as are settled or shall settle in any of His Majesty's Colonies in America, and used its provisions concerning time, oath of allegiance, the process of swearing before a judge, etc.
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Signed into law by President George Washington on March 26, 1790
So modeled on an anti-Catholic law. Unsurprising. You couldn't be Catholic and hold office in at least New Hampshire. Maybe others. Edit: "The states that allowed only Protestants to hold office were Georgia (1777), Massachusetts (1780), New Hampshire (1784), New Jersey (1776), North Carolina (1776), South Carolina (1778), and Vermont (1777). Three states — Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsylvania (all 1776) — required only that officeholders be Christian"
Joe_McCarthy 0 points 8 hours ago
The Naturalization Act of 1790 (1 Stat. 103, enacted March 26, 1790) was a law of the United States Congress that set the first uniform rules for the granting of United States citizenship by naturalization. The law limited naturalization to "free white person(s) ... of good character". This eliminated ambiguity on how to treat newcomers, given that free black people had been allowed citizenship at the state level in many states. In reading the Naturalization Act, the courts also associated whiteness with Christianity and thus excluded Muslim immigrants from citizenship until the decision Ex Parte Mohriez recognized citizenship for a Saudi Muslim man in 1944.[5]
Congress modeled the act on the Plantation Act 1740 of the British Parliament (13 Geo. 2. c. 7) that was officially titled An Act for Naturalizing such foreign Protestants and others therein mentioned, as are settled or shall settle in any of His Majesty's Colonies in America, and used its provisions concerning time, oath of allegiance, the process of swearing before a judge, etc.
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Signed into law by President George Washington on March 26, 1790
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naturalization_Act_of_1790#:~:text=The%20Naturalization%20Act%20of%201790,an%20uniform%20Rule%20of%20Naturalization.
So modeled on an anti-Catholic law. Unsurprising. You couldn't be Catholic and hold office in at least New Hampshire. Maybe others. Edit: "The states that allowed only Protestants to hold office were Georgia (1777), Massachusetts (1780), New Hampshire (1784), New Jersey (1776), North Carolina (1776), South Carolina (1778), and Vermont (1777). Three states — Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsylvania (all 1776) — required only that officeholders be Christian"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plantation_Act_1740
https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/article/religious-oaths/#:~:text=The%20states%20that%20allowed%20only,only%20that%20officeholders%20be%20Christian.