A Nationality of Her Own: Women, Marriage, and the Law of Citizenship

Abstract

In 1907, the United States federal government declared that any American woman marrying a foreigner had to assume the nationality of her husband, and thereby denationalized thousands of American women. This study follows the variations in women's nationality rights, law and immigration policy in the United States during the late Progressive and interwar years, placing the history and impact of derivative citizenship within the broad context of the women's suffrage movement. Making use of primary sources, and utilizing documents from many leading women's reform organizations, government agencies, Congressional hearings and federal litigation involving women's naturalization and expatriation, Candice Bredbenner provides a contemporary feminist perspective on key historical, political and legal debates relating to citizenship, nationality, political empowerment, and their implications for women;s legal status in the United States.