Our Ancestors' Love Cost Them Their Citizenship
Hannah Smith, born in Pennsylvania in 1897, married 20 Mar 1921. On that day she no longer was American. She was British! You'll see below Herbert was a British immigrant. Hannah automatically was stripped the citizenship of her birth county upon marriage. It was the Law.
Before seeing red over the 1907 Expatriation Act, a law designed just for USA women, jump with joy. This unfair, misogynistic law gives family researchers more document to identify their proper family line. The best way to use this data is for common names: which Herbert and Mary Smith was yours?
What Was The Expatriation Act?
The Act states that an American woman who married an alien would lose her citizenship and take on her husband’s nationality. If her husband's country did not allow wives to gain derivative citizenship, the previously born American citizen would then become stateless.
But, We Love Paperwork
Whereas, the Expatriation Act of 1907 was a head-scratcher, we love the paperwork generated due to Amendments, Repatration, and law mendments. The further we go back in history, the more common the given and suranmes become. How many John Smith's were there anyway. The only way to pluck your correct one is to be prepared and hope for a woman that married an immigrant between 1907 - 1930.
Know there's not one Act, there were Amendments, and other Acts to override the original Amendments and Acts. This means that once your ancestor was in the system, researchers were given a couple of decades of great genealogical paperwork that others may not have.
Where to Start?
- You've traced your ancestors (parents, grandparents to grandparents) and extended family.
- You pulled census records, vital records, marriage records, dates and locations. You are now ready for the timeframe you are looking for 1907 - 1930 (or before). Either way it's time to crossfingers and start digging.
Be patient, just like any other naturalization record research, you may have to research in several relevant courts and maybe even adjacent states. We recently located a 1927 repatriation document for our South Dakota Klein family, in Colorado records.
5 More Opportunities to find a Naturalization Updates?
- IF the husband became naturalized the American born wife could apply to regain her citizenship.
- The wife could repatriate IF the marriage was annulled
- The wife could repatriate IF divorced from the alien
- Or IF she became a widow.
- IF the wife was living abroad, she would have to register within one year through an American consul.
What Was the Impact?
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| Oroville Daily Register, 6 Oct 1923, Oroville, CA |
This citizenship restriction had major impact on Amerian born citizens:
- Losing their citizenship barred women from certain kinds of employment and made them vulnerable to detention and deportation.
- Some states, mostly western, allowed women to vote before the 19th Amendment. But American born wives of aliens who attempted to register to vote in those states were no longer allowed to vote until the Act was revised by the Cable Act of 1922.
The Cable Act.deserves it's own blog.
But, American Men Didn't Fear
If an immigrant - alien woman married an American man, through the 1855 Act of Congress, these alien wives were granted automatic citizenship. Even through terminiation of their marriage, these women were able to retain their citizenship.
Where to get more information?
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Great article! Sadly, the existence of controlling anti-people laws don't surprise me any more. The world is full of them if you look. I think as genealogists we have the power of transmutation: to take that suffering and turn it into a positive.
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