06/20/2017
The Declaration of Independence
Part Five of Twelve
Grievances Regarding Immigration
The next grievance listed in the Declaration of Independence is similar in idea to those we looked at yesterday. Those dealt with the King’s interference with colonial law. Tonight we will examine another way in which Great Britain interfered in colonial affairs:
7. He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
In 1754 Great Britain sent Colonel George Washington into the Ohio River Valley with a demand for the French to withdraw. His encounter with the French began the French and Indian War, called the Seven Years war in Europe. It ended in 1763 with Great Britain driving the French out of the Ohio. The war left Britain with two things, a vast new territory and immense debts.
In Great Britain only one farmer in ten owned his own land. In the colonies that number was nine out of ten. It was free land which brought many colonists to these shores. But Great Britain was concerned about an Indian war so it passed the Proclamation of 1763 which prohibited colonists from settling west of a line drawn through the Appalachian Mountains. Some suddenly found themselves on the wrong side of an arbitrary border. Others found that they could not use the land they already owned in the Ohio. Given that so many were coming to the colonies for land, and the high birthrate in the colonies, land was needed, but the Proclamation restricted the growth of the colonies and their access to that land.
But this restriction was only part of the issue. To understand the rest you have to know some of the history of the British throne. King George was a member of the House of Hanover, a German principality. After the death of the childless Queen Anne, the throne of England passed to her cousin, George the Elector of Hanover. His son, King George II, later had to fight a war to retain control of his Hanover lands. This led him to distrust other Germans. His grandson, George III, inherited this attitude.
Along with the many colonists emigrating from the British Isles were also some Germans and French. King George distrusted these people because they had no allegiance to him. He feared that German independence would spread to the English colonists and the old animosity of the French to the English would cause trouble. To prevent this, he passed laws to make it more difficult for immigrants from nations other than Great Britain to come to the colonies and to claim land. Governors, despite the desire of Americans to welcome the other immigrants, were instructed to delay or deny requests for naturalization for non-English applicants. Deeds to land became harder for the non-English to get. This all but stopped the immigrants from leaving their homelands.
Immigration remains an issue today, though not for the same reasons. The Founders were not concerned about immigrants taking jobs from Americans or abusing social services. Immigrants were not a burden on colonial society. There were few services to overwhelm, and the settlers came to own their own farms. The Founders’ concern was that people who wished to be Americans should be allowed to be Americans. However, they did not advocate for open borders as James Iredell pointed out,
"Besides, any alien coming to this country must, or ought to know, that this being an independent nation, it has all the rights concerning the removal of aliens which belong by the law of nations to any other; that while he remains in the country in the character of an alien, he can claim no other privilege than such as an alien is entitled to; and consequently, whatever risk he may incur in that capacity, is incurred voluntarily, with the hope that in due time, by his unexceptionable conduct, he may become a citizen of the United States."
Americans have always welcomed those from other shores, provided they are law abiding. Thomas Jefferson said,
"Born in other countries, yet believing you could be happy in this, our laws acknowledge, as they should do, your right to join us in society, conforming, as I doubt not you will do, to our established rules. That these rules shall be as equal as prudential considerations will admit, will certainly be the aim of our legislatures, general and particular."
The grievance here was the same as the others. Government was to protect the rights of the people. It was not to pick the winners and the losers in the economy.
