American by Birth: Wong Kim Ark and the Battle for Citizenship
In this abridged edition for the Landmark Law Cases and American Society series American by Birth is now available in a format designed for students and general readers and includes a chronology outlining the key points in the case plus a bibliographical essay.

American by Birth explores the history and legacy of Wong Kim Ark and the 1898 Supreme Court case that bears his name, which established the automatic citizenship of individuals born within the geographic boundaries of the United States. In the late nineteenth century, much like the present, the United States was a difficult, and at times threatening, environment for people of color. Chinese immigrants, invited into the United States in the 1850s and 1860s as laborers and merchants, faced a wave of hostility that played out in organized private violence, discriminatory state laws, and increasing congressional efforts to throttle immigration and remove many long-term residents.

The federal courts, backed by the Supreme Court, supervised the development of an increasingly restrictive and exclusionary immigration regime that targeted Chinese people. This was the situation faced by Wong Kim Ark, who was born in San Francisco in the 1870s and who earned his living as a cook. Like many members of the Chinese community in the American West he maintained ties to China. He traveled there more than once, carrying required reentry documents, but when he attempted to return to the United States after a journey from 1894 to 1895, he was refused entry and detained. Protesting that he was a citizen and therefore entitled to come home, he challenged the administrative decision in court. Remarkably, the Supreme Court granted him victory.

This victory was important for Wong Kim Ark, for the ethnic Chinese community in the United States, and for all immigrant communities then and to this day. because the Supreme Court’s ruling inscribed the principle in constitutional terms and clarified that it extended even to the children of immigrants who were legally barred from becoming citizens.
"1138377754"
American by Birth: Wong Kim Ark and the Battle for Citizenship
In this abridged edition for the Landmark Law Cases and American Society series American by Birth is now available in a format designed for students and general readers and includes a chronology outlining the key points in the case plus a bibliographical essay.

American by Birth explores the history and legacy of Wong Kim Ark and the 1898 Supreme Court case that bears his name, which established the automatic citizenship of individuals born within the geographic boundaries of the United States. In the late nineteenth century, much like the present, the United States was a difficult, and at times threatening, environment for people of color. Chinese immigrants, invited into the United States in the 1850s and 1860s as laborers and merchants, faced a wave of hostility that played out in organized private violence, discriminatory state laws, and increasing congressional efforts to throttle immigration and remove many long-term residents.

The federal courts, backed by the Supreme Court, supervised the development of an increasingly restrictive and exclusionary immigration regime that targeted Chinese people. This was the situation faced by Wong Kim Ark, who was born in San Francisco in the 1870s and who earned his living as a cook. Like many members of the Chinese community in the American West he maintained ties to China. He traveled there more than once, carrying required reentry documents, but when he attempted to return to the United States after a journey from 1894 to 1895, he was refused entry and detained. Protesting that he was a citizen and therefore entitled to come home, he challenged the administrative decision in court. Remarkably, the Supreme Court granted him victory.

This victory was important for Wong Kim Ark, for the ethnic Chinese community in the United States, and for all immigrant communities then and to this day. because the Supreme Court’s ruling inscribed the principle in constitutional terms and clarified that it extended even to the children of immigrants who were legally barred from becoming citizens.
24.99 In Stock
American by Birth: Wong Kim Ark and the Battle for Citizenship

American by Birth: Wong Kim Ark and the Battle for Citizenship

by Carol Nackenoff, Julie Novkov
American by Birth: Wong Kim Ark and the Battle for Citizenship

American by Birth: Wong Kim Ark and the Battle for Citizenship

by Carol Nackenoff, Julie Novkov

Paperback

$24.99 
  • SHIP THIS ITEM
    Qualifies for Free Shipping
  • PICK UP IN STORE
    Check Availability at Nearby Stores

Related collections and offers


Overview

In this abridged edition for the Landmark Law Cases and American Society series American by Birth is now available in a format designed for students and general readers and includes a chronology outlining the key points in the case plus a bibliographical essay.

American by Birth explores the history and legacy of Wong Kim Ark and the 1898 Supreme Court case that bears his name, which established the automatic citizenship of individuals born within the geographic boundaries of the United States. In the late nineteenth century, much like the present, the United States was a difficult, and at times threatening, environment for people of color. Chinese immigrants, invited into the United States in the 1850s and 1860s as laborers and merchants, faced a wave of hostility that played out in organized private violence, discriminatory state laws, and increasing congressional efforts to throttle immigration and remove many long-term residents.

The federal courts, backed by the Supreme Court, supervised the development of an increasingly restrictive and exclusionary immigration regime that targeted Chinese people. This was the situation faced by Wong Kim Ark, who was born in San Francisco in the 1870s and who earned his living as a cook. Like many members of the Chinese community in the American West he maintained ties to China. He traveled there more than once, carrying required reentry documents, but when he attempted to return to the United States after a journey from 1894 to 1895, he was refused entry and detained. Protesting that he was a citizen and therefore entitled to come home, he challenged the administrative decision in court. Remarkably, the Supreme Court granted him victory.

This victory was important for Wong Kim Ark, for the ethnic Chinese community in the United States, and for all immigrant communities then and to this day. because the Supreme Court’s ruling inscribed the principle in constitutional terms and clarified that it extended even to the children of immigrants who were legally barred from becoming citizens.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780700632886
Publisher: University Press of Kansas
Publication date: 01/06/2022
Series: Landmark Law Cases and American Society
Pages: 248
Product dimensions: 5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Carol Nackenoff is the Richter Professor of Political Science at Swarthmore College. Julie Novkov is professor of political science and women’s, gender, and sexuality studies at the University at Albany, State University of New York. Nackenoff and Novkov are the coeditors of Stating the Family: New Directions in the Study of American Politics and of Statebuilding from the Margins: Between Reconstruction and the New Deal.


Carol Nackenoff is the Richter Professor of Political Science at Swarthmore College. Julie Novkov is professor of political science and women’s, gender, and sexuality studies at the University at Albany, State University of New York. Nackenoff and Novkov are the coeditors of Stating the Family: New Directions in the Study of American Politics and of Statebuilding from the Margins: Between Reconstruction and the New Deal.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. The Foundations of American Citizenship

2. Chinese Immigration and the Legal Shift toward Exclusion

3. The Legal Battle over Exclusion

4. Who Was Wong Kim Ark?

5. Wong Kim Ark v. United States

6. Citizenship and Immigration: The Next Battles

7. Revisiting Jus Soli: Contemporary Developments (coauthored with Mari Vike)

Chronology

Notes

Bibliography

Index

From the B&N Reads Blog

Customer Reviews