I thought that looked like a state naturalization document.
I thought that looked like a state naturalization document. It may well be. I would need to know its source, but I think I have an explanation at the bottom of this post. Each state maintained the right to bestow citizenship until it ratified the US Constitution; This document (Post 378) seems to show February 1, 1794. However and few people know this it wasn't until the Immigration Act of 1795 that new citizens swore allegiance to the United States and its Constitution ... at least at the FEDERAL level. Each state had slightly different rules on the issue of an Oath of Allegiance. Massachusetts (which barely passed ratification of the US Constitution by a vote of 187 to 168) was generally regarded to be the strictest state in regards to immigration. On the other hand, Pennsylvania was generally perceived as the most liberal state when it came to receiving foreigners as citizens. James Madison, the sponsor of the revisions of the Immigration Act of 1795 that were introduced in December 1794, thought that the 1790 Immigration Act had not duly guarded against "intrusions and evasions" and that "the progress of things in Europe" was exposing the United States to "very serious inconveniences." Part of the Immigration Act of 1795 was a requirement that new citizens abjure prior allegiances and it is still the law of the land today. As I showed in Post 323 above, Madison's fears would turn out to be justified.
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