Migration and the origins of American citizenship : African Americans, Native Americans, and immigrants.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Law, Anna O

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

African Americans--Legal status, laws, etc--History--lat.

African Americans.

Citizenship--United States--History--lat.

Citizenship.

Emigration and immigration law--United States--History--lat.

Emigration and immigration law.

Indians of North America--Legal status, laws, etc--History--lat.

Indians of North America.

United States--Emigration and immigration--History--lat.

United States.

Place of Publication:

Oxford University Press, 2026.

Summary:

Since the late nineteenth century, the US federal government has enjoyed exclusive authority to decide whether someone has the ability to enter and stay in US territory. But freedom of movement was not guaranteed in the British colonies or early US. By contrast, voluntary migrants were met with strict laws and policies created by colonies and states, which denied free mobility and settlement in their territories to unwanted populations. 'Migration and the Origins of American Citizenship' presents a story of constitutional development that traces the confluence of the logics of slavery and settler colonialism in early legal rulings and public policy about migration and citizenship. The book examines the division of labour between the national and state governments that endured for over a century, reasons why that arrangement changed in the late nineteenth century, and what the transformation meant for people subject to those regimes of control.

Contents:

Cover

Title page

Copyright page

Dedigation page

Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction

1 Sifting Migrants

2 Belonging

3 Migration and Citizenship at the Founding

4 Regulating International Borders

5 Regulating Interstate Borders

6 Formal Citizenship Defined

7 Historical Antecedents and Legal Precedents

Epilogue: Continuity, Change, and Constitutional Memory

Index

ISBN:

0-19-766012-6

9780197660102