Miscegenation Laws

Paper Masters' writers explore many social problems that are discussed in college courses today. One such issue is miscegenation laws that have disadvantaged Asian and African Americans in the United States for over a Century. Get help writing on sociology issues such as miscegenation from Paper Masters.

A review of the history of Asian immigrants to the United States demonstrates that their struggle against the discrimination of the white American government was possibly more difficult with regard to legal roadblocks and barriers.

• The fact that the Asian fight for American citizenship appears to have been more arduous than the fight of people of Africa does not lessen the ruthlessness and cruelty that many African Americans experienced from anti-black groups.
• Vicious discrimination that African Americans have experienced in the last three centuries was also experienced by other non-white groups.
• Legally, the struggle for freedom for African-Americans was achieved perhaps sooner than freedom and citizen rights were achieved for Asian Americans.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the history of miscegenation laws as they related to Asian migration and colonialism within the United States.

Miscegenation Laws and Trade

It is ironic that the continent of North America was discovered by an explorer intent on finding a shorter route to the East. The irony is based in the fact that Europeans were so eager to trade with individuals who were not welcomed to "their" new world. Thus, economic value and profit were so important that these travelers were willing to interact with individuals that they did not consider to be their equal, yet their products were valuable and desirable.

It should be noted that the term Asian will be used throughout this paper. The meaning of this term will be defined as individuals who are descendants from the people who inhabit China, Japan, the East Indies, and India. Although this definition is generally accepted, it is interesting to note that the individuals from these areas of the world do not necessarily have common or similar physical features. For example, people from India typically have what is considered to be Caucasian facial features but straight, dark hair which is similar to that of the Chinese and Japanese people.

The First Laws and Immigration

The first laws regarding immigration to the new country that referred to herself as the United States of America dealt with the selection of individuals who could be considered a citizen. Given that the borders of the United States were not such that entry could have been prevented, it was not reasonable that Americans could actually have prevented someone from entering the country and taking residence. They were, on the other hand, able to deny certain rights and privileges with regard to voting and other behaviors that were connected only to citizens. Thus, the American legal system in 1790 established its first law regarding who and who could not become a citizen. This was the first Naturalization Act. Essentially, it provided that only white individuals would be allowed to become a citizen, while all others could not be admitted for citizenship.