Most naturalization records in the Library of Virginia’s holdings are for white individuals. The first federal naturalization law in 1790 stated specifically that individuals had to be "a free white person" in order to qualify for citizenship. Eventually, citizenship opened to others, but it was a slow process.
In 1870, African immigrants became eligible for citizenship, which left questions as to whether Asian immigrants could become citizens. Chinese immigrants were specifically barred from citizenship starting in 1882 with the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act. In the 1922 Supreme Court case Ozawa v. United States, the Court determined that “white” meant “Caucasian,” excluding Japanese immigrants from citizenship. Similarly, the 1923 Supreme Court case United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind resulted in the decision that “Hindu” individuals from India could not be naturalized; in fact, those who had been naturalized had their citizenship revoked.
In line with these rulings, a 1940 federal law specified that only “white persons, persons of African nativity or descent, and descendants of races indigenous to the Western hemisphere” who spoke English could become citizens. In subsequent years, federal legislation expanded access to citizenship. Chinese people became eligible for citizenship in 1943 and non-white immigrants from India and the Philippines in 1946. In 1952, federal legislation ended racial restrictions on naturalization.
The number of non-white immigrants to Virginia eligible for citizenship remained low until the mid-20th century. One reason for the disparity may be geography, but another was the creation of the “Asiatic Barred Zone” that limited immigration from Asia, as well as a quota system instituted in 1924 that favored nationalities that were already in the United States in large numbers and remained in effect until 1965.
Women were not mentioned specifically in federal naturalization laws until 1804, when legislation was enacted stating that if a man died before completing the naturalization process, his wife and children could become citizens by taking an oath of allegiance.
Beginning in 1855, a woman could become a citizen if she married a U.S. citizen. For most women and minor children, citizenship was derivative, meaning that they became citizens when their husbands or fathers were naturalized. Between 1907 and 1922, women also lost citizenship if they married a non-citizen. Such women may have naturalization records even if they were born in the United States to parents who were U.S. citizens.
It was not until 1922 that women were required to go through the naturalization process themselves to become a U.S. citizen and could no longer rely on marriage. Additionally, women no longer lost their citizenship by marrying a non-citizen.