In 1790 (1 Stat. 103), the first federal naturalization law was passed. White males who were at least twenty-one years old and considered to be of good moral character could be naturalized in any court of record after a two-year residency and oath of allegiance. Children under the age of twenty-one who lived in the United States received citizenship when a parent was naturalized.
The law changed substantially several times immediately following 1790. In 1795 (1 Stat 414), a two-step procedure that took a minimum of five years was instituted. An individual seeking citizenship who had lived in the United States for a minimum of three years could file a declaration of intention to be naturalized. Two years after filing a declaration of intent, the individual could petition for naturalization. These two steps did not have to take place in the same court. At the time the petition for naturalization was filed in court, depositions by two witnesses attesting to the length of residence and character of the applicant may also have been filed. The new citizen was granted a certificate of naturalization.
Three years later, in 1798 (1 Stat. 566), the federal government required five years between the submission of a declaration of intention and a petition for naturalization and a fourteen-year residency, including a five-year residency within the state in which the petition for naturalization was filed. In 1802 (2 Stat. 153), there was a return to the 1795 residency requirement.
Naturalizations could be recorded in any court—federal, state, county, or city. A minute or order book often has an index at the beginning of each volume. When searching for naturalizations, researchers should look in the index for the last name of the individual.
The loose papers for the court in which the petition for naturalization was filed may have a copy of the declaration of intention. This copy was submitted as proof that the petitioner had completed the first step of the naturalization process. Generally, the declaration of intention and petition for naturalization provide the name of the individual and country of former allegiance.
